Strong in the Broken Places
by jazzywazzy08
Summary: When Bonnie Bennett, inhuman and former HYDRA captive, has to leave the safe haven of the Xavier Institute For Higher Learning to join the battle in DC after the "death" of her father Nick Fury she captures the hearts of four broken people. Over time, somehow, together they make something whole.
1. PART ONE: SCATTERED

**Title:** Strong in the Broken Places

 **Rating:** M

 **Fandom:** TVD/MCU

 **Genre:** AU/AH/Crossover

 **Pairings:** Bonnie Bennett/James "Bucky" Barnes, Bonnie Bennett/Natasha Romanoff, James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers, Bonnie Bennett/Sam Wilson, Steve Rogers/Natasha Romanoff, Bonnie Bennett/Steve Rogers, Steve Rogers/Sam Wilson, James "Bucky" Barnes/Sam Wilson, Natasha Romanoff/Sam Wilson, James "Bucky" Barnes/Natasha Romanoff, Bonnie Bennett/James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers/Sam Wilson/Natasha Romanoff, Ororo "Storm" Munroe/Thor Odinson, Thor Odinson/Jane Foster, Jane Foster/Ororo "Storm" Munroe, Ororo "Storm" Munroe/Thor Odinson/Jane Foster, Damon Salvatore/Darcy Lewis, mentions of other canon pairings, ect.

 **Summary:** When Bonnie Bennett, inhuman and former HYDRA captive, has to leave the safe haven of the Xavier Institute For Higher Learning to join the battle in DC after the "death" of her father Nick Fury she captures the hearts of four broken people. Over time, somehow, together they make something whole.

 **Warnings:** Polyamorous Relationships, Violence, Language, Mentions of Torture, Minor Character Death, etc.

 _ **A/N:**_ _ **So obviously this is an AU fic. I am mostly reposting this here because there is an update for this coming up and because I feel like this is one of the ones I need feedback to continue and I am not getting much on Wattpad. Things that you need to know, all of the MF Gang are human expect Bonnie and Damon for reasons. Also Damon and Grams are the only ones that are guaranteed to appear from MF besides Bonnie for quite a while. Bonnie's father in this is Nick Fury, Rudy is Abby's second husband. This fic is set during CA:TWS shortly after the "death" of Nick Fury, but makes some illusions to the first Avengers movie. I'm using Romanoff as Natasha's surname in this because that is what is says on IMDb and this fic is movie verse. Also, Bucky is more lucid and has more of his memories intact but there is a reason for that that will be explained as you read. Also everyone that ends up in a poly pairing is bisexual in this canon world to save myself a headache. It will be hard enough getting the characters over poly hang-ups without having to write in a crisis of sexual orientation. Lol. Happy reading and all of that. Please review here and again my other stories can be found on Wattpad!**_

 **PART ONE: SCATTERED**

Bonnie Bennett walked among the flowers in the gardens surrounding the mansion that acted as the Xavier Institute for Higher Learning, formerly known as Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters. It was near nature that Bonnie felt most at peace. Outside in the elements. Tonight was a night of unrest and so, peace was even harder to come by.

It was late. The dead of night. A few hours before sunrise. She was supposed to be in the Women's dormitory. Even though the school was said to be a safe haven for her kind, there was still danger lurking and a threat surfacing almost constantly. For that reason, Professor Xavier liked to know where everyone was on the grounds at all times.

Bonnie wasn't worried. If they needed her and couldn't find her in the dorms, the gardens would be the next place that they would look. This was not the first time that Bonnie had wandered the grounds when the nightmares had kept her up at night.

It had been one month since she had arrived at the school. One month and two weeks since she had been rescued from captivity. But those small segments of time seemed inconsequential since she had been held captive for eight months. Had it not been for her father and her powers it would've been longer. And still she felt like a part of her was still there, more than likely because she could not save the one person that had made the time bearable. Ironically it was the same person that had kidnapped her in the first place.  
Her father had told her when he had brought her to the school that HYDRA wouldn't look for her here. It was too obvious a hiding spot, even though the school had been outed as a school full of mutants to anyone who had any type of higher intelligence and looked into it a long time ago. It wasn't as safe as it once was but it was safer for her than her home with her grandmother in Virginia. Safer even than the S.H.I.E.L.D. safe house she had spent the two weeks in before Charles Xavier had taken her in.

Bonnie's bare feet padded through the short grass and she smiled as her hands reached out and touched the petals of the lilies that she passed. They shouldn't have been in bloom this time of year. But between herself and Ororo, the gardens had become something of an ethereal anomaly all on their own, just like the mutants that tended to them.

She started to hum a Tammi Terrell song under her breath. Her grandmother used to play Motown records when they baked together first when Bonnie was a child and then when she got older. Because of her powers Bonnie's mother had left her and gotten remarried. Her father couldn't raise her, because of who he was and his position she couldn't even carry his last name. When she had developed her powers later in life, her father had been even more dead-set on the decision.

That had left her grandmother, Sheila Bennett, to handle her care. By the time Bonnie had started exhibiting "gifts" at the age of sixteen things had taken a turn for her. She had always isolated herself. She had had a few close friends but found it hard to trust people because of her parent's abandonment. When her grandmother had found out about her powers she had had no choice but to take Bonnie out of school and begin to home school her. Bonnie became isolated even further as a result. Her grandmother was her one constant and she hadn't seen her in months. Not even after she had been rescued. Going to her would've put her at risk and put Bonnie back on HYDRA's radar and so she stayed away.

Bonnie tried not to think about it as she continued her leisurely walk. But the more she tried, the darker her thoughts became. Her mind dwelled on her nightmares. Memories of her time alone in a cell. On a lab table. The experiments. Tests and torture to assess her limits. Determine her use as a weapon.

Bonnie swallowed as she stopped and stared at the flowers that were as much of a reminder as they were a comfort. Persephone. That's the name they had given her in the files. A dark joke. After the maiden goddess of spring, the queen of the Underworld. The name had been in part because of her powers and in part because of the relationship that she had developed with her abductor. The Asset. The assassin damned to death and darkness. James Buchanan Barnes. The long thought dead killer that had dragged Bonnie down to hell with him unwillingly and without being ordered to do so.

At first when her powers had developed at the age of sixteen they had been elemental in nature. Simplistic. She had been able to manipulate and control the elements. Earth. Air. Fire. Water. They had all bent to her whim in one way or another. But there had been limits, or at least she had thought that there were.

By the time that she was seventeen they had grown. She had been able to take the form of water. She had been able to shift into air in the form of fog, mist, and gas. She had been able to teleport, sometimes using wind and air currents. Sometimes elements of the earth. She had been able to create and manipulate dark winds. She had developed lung adaptations that allowed her to breathe freely under any condition. Some powers her father had her tested for on the rare occasions she saw him. Some she discovered by accident and still they grew.

By eighteen she had developed deoxygenation and dehydration abilities. She could suck both air and water out of anything, people, animal, plant, and the list went on. If she wanted to she could deprive the whole environment around her and as she would still be able to breathe she would be the only one left standing.

The fire related abilities heightened at eighteen as well. She had learned how to breathe fire. Manipulate and control the sun and solar power. She had gained the ability of self-denotation. Something she had discovered when her father had pissed her off and she had literally exploded and reformed in the same space a moment later to find it in flames and ruins.

By nineteen her powers had extended to light and shadow. To crystals and minerals. Metal manipulation. Golem creation. She also gained control of heavenly wind and the ability to create, manipulate, control, and reshape divine earth minerals.

Electricity and energy came next at twenty. Along with psychic abilities, precognition and mind manipulation.

By age twenty-one Bonnie had mastered the element of aether and she was classified as a divine life form. Just as easily as she could take a life with her abilities in many different ways, she could also resurrect the dead.

In the beginning she had been scared of herself. Of her powers. She had resented them. She had resented her parents for producing her and then leaving her alone to deal with the fallout. She had hated what she was. She had hated everything about it. They were dangerous, her powers and they kept her apart from everyone around her.

Her attitude had become a sort of bitter acceptance and then her father had come to her for help. She had been called on to resurrect Phil Coulson after the battle of New York. It was then that she realized that she could not only use her powers for good, but as a way to get closer to her father, Colonel Nicholas "Nick" Joseph Fury.

Bonnie hadn't mastered her powers by any stretch of the imagination by then. She would be lucky on most days if she could manage control. But her father had trusted her. He had had faith in her, even if his words had sounded as if he felt otherwise.

"He's already dead," he had said when he and Maria Hill had come to collect her from her grandmother's quaint Virginia home, "It's not like you can make it any worse."

Hill had given him a death glare, probably the only person who would have bothered or had the nerve to do so.

But Bonnie had long sense gotten used to the dry sense of humor. She had simply grinned and said, "Well I could end up accidently setting his body on fire."

"Then his family will get a free cremation out of the deal," her father had responded with a shrug and a smirk of his own. But the smile didn't reach his eyes.

Hill had shaken her head and had asked Bonnie if she had reconsidered going to college. Maria Hill was one of the few S.H.I.E.L.D. agents that knew of Bonnie's existence. She was her father's best kept secret. The fact that he had risked Bonnie's being discovered in order to save Coulson spoke volumes about what the man meant to him and to S.H.I.E.L.D.

The problem was that although Bonnie had managed to bring Coulson back from the dead, she had also managed to make herself a target in the process.

The first sign of there being a moles within S.H.I.E.L.D walls had been Bonnie's existence getting leaked to HYDRA after Phil Coulson's miraculous resurrection (though her father and the others had termed it a recovery). But they hadn't known the information had gotten leaked until it was too late.

After resurrecting Phil, her father had made it clear in no uncertain terms that Bonnie was not going to be involved in anything else related to S.H.I.E.L.D's ongoing fight to protect the civilians of their nation. She had gone back to her grandmother's house but what she hadn't known then was that she had been followed.

She had been followed by a dead man. A dead man with the orders to take her and take her alive. When Bonnie had first encountered him she had been blindsided. She had heard and saw nothing before he had allowed himself to appear out of the shadows, masked and dangerous, metal arm gleaming in the night. She had had no time to react or even try to use her powers to fight back before she was knocked unconscious.

The next time she had woken up she had been restrained. Strapped to a lab table, samples of her blood being drawn. That was the first time that she had seen his face and recognized him from her history books.

Sergeant James Buchanan "Bucky" Barnes, soldier of the 107th Infantry. Sniper. Former member of the Howling Commandos. Childhood friend and speculated lover of Captain America, or Captain Steven "Steve" Grant Rogers. Super soldier. Superhero and American icon. Whom Bonnie had never met in spite of the man's ties to her father. Because he didn't know Bonnie existed and Bonnie had discovered in that moment that S.H.I.E.L.D weren't the only ones good at keeping people buried.

But S.H.I.E.L.D. hadn't done a good enough job and Bonnie had paid the price for it. At first she had tried to escape. Most of the time in the beginning they had kept her heavily sedated. But every waking moment she had spent trying to get free.

She would have made it out on her own within a week with her powers, even with the guards and The Asset. The problem was that they had found a way to prey on her that her powers could not stop. There were other captives. Other prisoners that they tortured every time that Bonnie had tried to escape.

Among them was Damon Salvatore, a mutant with vampiric attributes and who was for all intents and purposes immortal. He was also from the same town as Bonnie. Before, Bonnie hadn't known him well, and what she knew of him she hadn't liked but being held prisoner had brought them closer. That was why she had helped facilitate his escape along with her own and why he had been brought to the institute along with her.

In the beginning Bonnie hadn't had enough control over her powers to save them both and she hadn't wanted blood on her hands and so after a while she had stopped trying to escape. Things were bleak in a way that she didn't want to remember but she had learned things from the experience. They had groomed her and honed her into something new in hopes of making use out of her.

They had taught her control. They had taught her how to fight physically as well as with her powers. The first time that she had sparred against someone else it had been the Asset. Before he had gotten the better of she had broken his flesh arm and she had fractured his ribs in three places. All without the use of her powers. After that, whenever he was sent out on a mission, when he came back, James always brought Bonnie flowers.

James. That was what she had called him in her head. It was too weird to think of him as Bucky but thinking of him as James had made her think of him as human. He was just as much of a prisoner as she was. Even if he was farther gone. He was still there. Just scattered and in pieces. It was the flowers that gave him away.

The flowers were almost always dead. When he had first used the key pad locking her cell to get in Bonnie had wondered how the hell he had known the code. Then she had wondered what the hell he had wanted. She had expected some sort of attack or to be manhandled into another room where she would be poked and prodded at but instead he had just held out a wilted bunch of daisies in his flesh hand.

Bonnie had stared at him in confusion. His face had been blank. His expression empty. His blue eyes had been as cold as they were when he had first taken her. She had blinked several times before taking the offered flowers. When he had continued to stare at her she had concentrated on them until they were no longer wilted and were in full bloom and given him a muttered, "Thank you. They're pretty."

He had left without a word. The next time he came it had been bits of wisteria. The third time a bundle of baby's breath. The fourth time pink tulips. He hadn't said his first words to her until he brought her the orchids. "They're your favorite," he had said. It hadn't been a question.

He had watched her before taking her she knew. She was his target and so it made sense. But she had never expected that he would pay attention to details. After that she began to talk to him. Sometimes he talked back and sometimes he didn't. He was the only one who she was able to have real conversations with outside of Damon, and she rarely ever saw him. Though, sometimes she heard his screams and she was sure he had hers.

It hadn't taken long for their handlers to find out about James visiting her. They hadn't taken it as she had thought. It seemed to her through observation that they had stripped him of everything that tied him to his humanity. His name. His memories. He was a weapon. They liked to keep it that way. At any sign of anything else they stripped his mind and started over again. But it had been different when they had found out about his sudden fondness for her. Bonnie hadn't known what else to call it.

She was valuable to them as well. However, her powers protected her mind and kept her safe in other ways, much safer than most prisoners. She was harder than he was to break. So they used him against her along with the others. A sort of system of rewards and punishments. When she was good she got flowers and conversations. When he followed orders they got time alone (though as they were always under constant surveillance they were never well and truly alone). On the bad days they got to watch each other suffer.

Bonnie liked to think of the good days. The days that she had gotten to hear the low rumble of his voice. The days that she had learned that she could shield his mind and protect what memories that were still intact to a certain extent.

She remembered when he had brought roses. Remembered on the same day, fingers both metal and flesh gently tracing her jawline. Cupping her cheek. Outlining her lips with the tip. All in an effort to memorize her face in preparation for the day when she couldn't protect his mind anymore. That had been the same day that he had helped her and Damon escape.

They had run for days, not stopping until they were able to contact her father. Then James had left. Leading the trail away from them so that they could have time to be found by S.H.E.I.L.D before HYDRA realized that they were no longer with James and picked up the chase.

They had been picked up by Hill and Black Widow. Bonnie had told them everything. About James. About the true identity of the Winter Soldier. But no one had believed her. Not even when Damon backed her up. There were always excuses. She had seen wrong. It was a side effect of the trauma. It was a trap to lure in S.H.I.E.L.D agents that would be sent in for the rescue.

After a while she had stopped trying and silently made a vow to find him herself. But there had been her recovery. There had been Hill calmly restraining her when something triggered her and her knee jerk reaction was to attack. There had been her father's voice reassuring her that he was real and she was free. Then there had been Natasha.

Natasha stroking her hair after a nightmare. Natasha sitting with her in the garden when she didn't want to talk to anyone or be near anyone else. Natasha and whispered conversations in Russian. Natasha sparring with her when she had needed to get out pent up aggressing. Natasha making jokes at Damon's expense and giving Bonnie a reason to smile. Natasha who had seen beyond her power.

It was funny that Bonnie would readily admit to loving James Buchanan Barnes. But she hadn't been there with Natasha. She probably could have come close. They understood each other in a way that no one else understood Bonnie outside of James and Damon. But their time together had ended as abruptly as it had started.

Then Bonnie had been escorted to the institute and she had regressed all over again. The only thing that had saved her was Damon's presence, because he knew her suffering and Ororo Munroe taking her under her wing because her powers were so like Bonnie's own in some respects and because Bonnie held her up on a pedestal almost on sight.

Ororo was beautiful and powerful. Confident and poised. She was a leader. She understood the pressures of being a black woman and a mutant. Oppressed on all sides. She had been the one to give Bonnie her new name. Bonnie had not planned on joining what Charles Xavier called the X-Men even if she had wanted to be in the thick of the action when it came to S.H.I.E.L.D and her father most days. She was supposed to keep a low profile and that was what she would do until she could figure out a way to leave and hunt down James.

But Professor Xavier had said that to lay low she would need a codename. Bonnie had reluctantly agreed. Storm had suggested a moment later that they call her Infinity, because her powers and potential were limitless. Bonnie had taken the name with pride and had accepted the woman as a mentor soon after.

"I knew that I would find you here," a smooth feminine voice said from behind her.

Bonnie smiled as she turned to face Ororo. It seemed as if her thoughts had scared the woman up. "I couldn't sleep," Bonnie responded.

Ororo ran her fingers through her long white hair and looked away as she spoke. "You will not be getting any sleep any time soon I'm afraid, sweetheart," she said.

Bonnie frowned. Ororo's face was suddenly stoic and serious. She sighed as her blue eyes came back in contact with Bonnie's green ones. "Charles was contacted by Maria Hill today," Ororo said carefully, "Your presence is required in Washington. Your father is in need of your assistance."

Ororo was trying to be delicate but Bonnie could read her too well. Besides that she already knew that there was only one reason that Hill would ever contact her and get her involved in whatever was going on at S.H.I.E.L.D. "My father," Bonnie whispered, "He's dead isn't he?"

Ororo's eyes locked with hers and she gave a stiff not. "Yes," she said, "I am sorry, Bonnie. But we both know that you can save him."

"What if saving isn't all he needs?" Bonnie asked seriously, "What if he needs me to help him fight what killed him in the first place?"

Ororo walked up to her and wrapped her arms around her in a brief hug before she spoke. "Then you will not be alone, my dear," she answered.

Bonnie nodded. She had figured as much. As alone as she had felt in her life before captivity, it wasn't the loneliness that she feared anymore. She had been isolated before she had been taken. But through HYDRA she had met James, she had grown closer to Damon, she had met Natasha, and Ororo and the other inhumans like her. In some twisted way she had them to thank for the people in her life that understood her most. But that didn't mean that she would show any mercy if they were responsible which was exactly what Bonnie suspected.

 **:::**

Natasha Romanoff didn't do breakdowns. But the closest thing that she had had to a father was now dead and it was hard to keep the walls up. Still she held them intact. Focusing instead on discovering the secret that Nick had left with Rogers that he was trying hard to keep hidden.

But a part of her wanted to corner Hill. Wanted to ask her about the girl. The mutant. The one that they had saved and escorted to the Xavier Institute for Higher Learning. She wanted to know if she could really do what the HYDRA files had claimed. If she could bring the dead back to life.

But Natasha kept her mouth shut. As much as she wanted Fury back she didn't want the girl involved. She had only been with her a short time. Had only known her by her first name, Bonnie, which she had only been told because the girl hadn't wanted to go by the name that HYDRA had given her. But she remembered the girl's lost look. She remembered rubbing her back after nightmares. She remembered her hiding her tears from everyone but Natasha. Remembered being the only person she had let get close to her outside of Hill and Fury.

She had known without being told that Natasha would understand. That she had lived through a similar hell.

The girl was safe now. Away from danger and Natasha didn't want to get her involved and in the line of fire again no matter what the reason.

Bonnie had been at peace only when near nature, Natasha remembered. Whenever she was near flowers, particularly orchids, she was stare off into space. She would go into a sort of daze. Into a world all of her own.

Majority of the time when they had been together they hadn't spoken. They had just sat next to one another quietly. Natasha missed those silences. She hadn't admitted it at the time but she had grown rather fond of Bonnie. More than fond actually. When she was in her presence, for some reason she had been at peace. Peace was unimaginable for someone like her but it had been there in the garden at the safe house. In the silence.

Natasha wondered as she bought another pack of gum from the vending machine that Steve had hid the hard drive in and waited for it to fall if she would ever know peace again. She thought about Fury and the condition that S.H.I.E.L.D was in. Thought about the amount of people after Steve and her by extension. Sighing, Natasha stuck a piece of gum into her mouth. She doubted it.

 **:::**

The Winter Soldier let his mind wander as he sat through his debriefing. Even though it was dangerous to do so. He knew the consequences were he to be discovered but he had to focus on the memories that were still intact before they wiped him. Just like his girl had taught him when she had started to protect his mind.

He had a girl. They had called her Persephone but that wasn't her name. He couldn't remember her name. But he could remember her face. Her eyes were green. She could fix things that were broken like him. Bring dead things back to life. She liked flowers. Orchids were her favorites. She had a pretty singing voice and a crooked smile. When the war was over and the missions were done he could go home to her.

That's what you did when the war was over. That's what his pal had said. When the war was over they could go home. His memories of his friend were more fragmented but they were there. He had had a friend. But sometimes he had been his fella. His eyes were blue. His hair was blonde. But his name. What was his name?

Bucky came out of his thoughts as he felt the familiar touch of his handlers. He shut his eyes tight. Blue eyes. Green eyes. Home. He repeated the fragmented thoughts in his mind like a mantra even as the mouth guard was shoved into place. Orchids. Blonde hair. Home. When the war was over. He shut his eyes tight. He would find them when the war was over.

 **:::**

The trip to DC had been a fast one for Bonnie at least. She had wasted no time teleporting there and Hill had escorted her to the safe house where her father's body was being held in an armored truck.

Bonnie had only brought a meager amount of belongings with her. A duffle back with a few changes of clothes. Her cell phone and the communication device that Professor Xavier had given her. She had tried to talk them out of it but both Ororo and Damon were on their way as well. Their means of transportation a lot less conspicuous as they were taking Damon's Camaro.

For all intents in purposes they were civilians as far as the rest of the world was concerned. In spite of her stint in captivity Bonnie had remained off the radar before and after. No one would be looking for her as, as of right now she wasn't the target.

Besides until Hill gave her orders, and her father was resurrected she wouldn't be leaving the safe house.

"I don't give a damn what Fury says when he wakes up," Hill said, as she lead Bonnie to the basement of the house, "We need you in on this one. And when I say in I mean all the way in. Your inhuman friends too if they're up to it. We're running out of people to trust so it's all hands on deck."

"He won't like it," Bonnie commented as she stopped in front of a lab table with what was obviously her father's body on top of it beneath a white sheet.

"Since when does that bother you?" Hill asked, one eyebrow raised.

"It doesn't," Bonnie said, looking down at the body, "I'm just warning you because we'll have a fight on our hands." Bonnie swallowed as she lifted the sheet, her hands shaking.

She didn't like seeing him like this. He was too still. Too cold. Nothing like the formidable man that could intimidate anyone with just one look even if he only had the use of one eye. Bonnie reached out and touched his cheek. For once she was grateful for her powers. She wouldn't have been able to stay this calm were she not able to rescue him.

Her father was stubborn. He was a hard ass. He was distant. He cared more about the greater good than he did his relationship with his daughter but she loved him. She always had. Even when things were at their worse. Even when part of her blamed him for her being taken and when she resented him for not believing her about the identity of the Winter Soldier. She loved him.

"I can handle, Fury," Hill said, breaking into her thoughts, "So can you for that matter. The question is are you ready for the fallout from all of this if you come into this? You're not going to make it out of this unscathed. No matter what happens, one way or the other, you're going to be back on the radar."  
Bonnie thought about who they said had killed her father. The Winter Soldier. The Asset. James. Bucky. He knew who her father was. Knew she was alive as he had helped her escape. She had to believe that a part of him had known that she could bring him back.

But even if he hadn't. He wasn't in control of his actions. And she was here in this city for him, just as much as she was for her father. Though, she would never admit it out loud.

"I'm ready," Bonnie said aloud.

Hill nodded and they both looked down at the body as Bonnie placed her hands on either side of her father's temple. She concentrated her powers. She felt through his body with her mind. Willed his heart to beat. Willed his lungs to take in air. The powers had used to put a strain on her body but whatever HYDRA had done to her had taken care of that. Some of the scientist at S.H.I.E.L.D. had speculated that she had been given some version of the super soldier serum. But they had never tested the theory. Her father hadn't allowed it. The test reminded her too much of captivity.

Bonnie heard Hill gasp and then let out a sigh of relief as her father started breathing. "You're stronger than you were with Coulson," Hill commented, "He took hours."

Bonnie shrugged. "HYDRA is good for something I guess," she replied. Hill frowned. She hated when Bonnie made light of her captivity. But it was Bonnie's way to cope and so she never commented on it.

Bonnie worked on healing her father's injuries next. Once she was done he opened his good eye and looked up at her. "I knew you'd come," he said.

Bonnie smiled a sad sort of smile down at him. "Did you miss me dad?" she whispered.

"Like a thorn in my side," Nick said, but he was smiling. They were quiet for a moment and then Bonnie helped him sit upright. The sheet covering him pooled up on his lap. "I suppose now that your old man's out of commission for the time being you're going to want in on this one?"

"Are you going to fight me on this?" Bonnie asked, not bothering to answer his question. They both knew the answer anyway.

"No," he said, and then, "I need you." Bonnie couldn't appreciate the way Hill's eyes widened comically at the admission because she was trying not to cry. She knew what it had taken for him to say those words and she didn't take them lightly. "But," he continued, "You end up on the news then you're the one who's explaining this to your momma."

Bonnie laughed, even as she wiped at her eyes. "And to think I was glad I was able to bring you back just a second ago," she sighed.

"I love you too," he replied, his smiled widening. Bonnie blamed his sudden sentimental behavior on coming back from the dead. He didn't say "I love you", especially not in front of witnesses. "Now if you two would excuse me I'd like to get dressed," he said.

Well, Bonnie thought laughing, it was nice while it lasted.

She and Hill shared a looked. "Good to have you back, Director," Hill said and Nick nodded. Hill turned and Bonnie turned with her as they went upstairs.

As they made it upstairs Bonnie frowned at the sudden chill. Both she and Hill turned at the same time to see that the front door was ajar. Bonnie immediately took a defensive stance as Hill pulled her gun out of the holster on her hip and did a quick sweep of the house.

Bonnie looked around and ignored Hill's movements as she noticed something sitting on the table in the kitchen.

She walked forward and her eyes narrowed. She barely heard Hill come up behind her and murmur, "All clear," as she walked over to the table, her eyes never leaving the bundle of wilted orchids on the table top.

Tears sprang up in the corners of her eyes as she reached for it. "Whoever it was is gone now but we'll have to find a new place to lay low," Hill said, "We've been compromised. I'll go and tell your father."

Bonnie ignored her as she picked up the orchids and hugged them to her chest. As she smiled her powers subconsciously brought the flowers back into full bloom. They were a message she knew. He was out there and he remembered. How much she wasn't sure. But he hadn't tried to attack or take anyone and that was saying something.

Bonnie looked down at the orchids and realized that she had a message of her own to deliver.

 **:::**

Steve Rogers had barely had time to process the death of Director Fury and the fact that he was now a fugitive of S.H.I.E.L.D. Now he was in an Apple store with someone who was likely the only person he could trust, and the most untrustworthy person he had ever met at the same time, trying to fish for information on a hard drive left to him by a dead man.

When the drive pointed to the location where he did his training he couldn't help but think that the place was no accident. Everything was leading back to him. There was a reason Fury left the drive with him after all.

His thoughts were cut short as their nine minutes ran out and Natasha pulled him in the direction of the exit.

He was thinking like a soldier as they made their way through the shopping mall. His eyes scanned their surroundings. Counting the number of men they were up against. Logging anything that could be used as a weapon or shield. Thinking about the best way to go about their escape that would result in the least amount of civilian casualties. But it was all for naught. Because Natasha Romanoff thought like a spy and all it took was an arm around her shoulders and a fake laugh and they were blending into the crowd.

By the time they made it to the down escalator Steve spotted Brock Rumlow. He found himself distracted as his eyes moved to someone else coming up the escalator on the opposite side. There was a girl, a woman. Young. With soft dark brown curls that stopped just shy of reaching her shoulders. She was wearing a green dress that was sheer in places, revealing tantalizing bits of caramel skin. Steve's mouth went dry as she met his eyes and smiled a crooked smile up at him.

But this was no time for distractions. Natasha's elbow digging into his side reminded him as much. Then she asked him to kiss her and he was distracted for another reason altogether. She made a quick explanation about people being uncomfortable witnessing public displays of affection but Steve didn't have time to argue because in the next moment her lips were on his and he forgot about Rumlow completely.

As she pulled away Natasha looked unfazed. It probably wasn't the first time that she had used similar means to hide in plain sight so Steve couldn't really say that he was surprised. However, the frown on her face as they reached the bottom of the escalator caused some concern.

He watched as she reached into the pocket of her hooded sweatshirt and he didn't know what to expect as she pulled her hand out again. His brow knitted together in confusion as she pulled out a flower, eyes widening almost comically.

An array of emotions flashed across her face and then she was closed off again apart from a half smirk and a muttered, "Son of a bitch."

"What's that?" Steve asked.

"A flower," Natasha responded, still smiling, "An orchid to be exact." There was something else that she wasn't telling him and Steve did his best to hide his frustration.

"I see that," he stated, "What I meant was….what's it mean?"

Natasha shook her head distractedly. "Nothing," she said, "Let's go."

"You're a bad liar," Steve commented, throwing her words to him back in her face.

She simply shook her head, bringing the pink orchid up to her nose and smelling it. The smile on her lips brightened and it was unnerving to see such a genuine expression on someone that normally kept their vulnerabilities under lock and key. He hadn't even seen that smile when she was around Clint.

"Only when I want to be," she shrugged, "We don't have time for an explanation anyway. We've got to move."

Steve silently decided to let it go. She was right. There was no time. Still he couldn't help but look over his shoulder in hopes of seeing the girl in the green dress again. She was the first person in this time that had struck him on first sight outside of Sam Wilson. And he had been the first person to do so after Peggy. And before her there had been Bucky.

Now there was just him. Him and chance encounters and lingering possibilities. Flirting conversations after a morning run. A surprise kiss on an escalator. A crooked smile in his direction from a stranger in a green dress. But when Steve looked behind him, the girl was already gone.

Passingly he thought that Natasha treating finding him a date like a part time job wasn't such a ridiculous thing anymore. Whether or not they lived through this, with the life he led, he doubted the job would get any easier.

 **:::**

That night after work Sam Wilson got roped into going to a karaoke bar with a few of his coworkers. It was for his part, pretty much an excuse to drink and kick himself for not giving Steve Rogers his number at some point. Two chances he had passed up. The guy had come all the way down to the VA and he still hadn't had the nerve to even offer.

In his defense it wasn't as if one came across Captain America every day. Besides the guy had ridden off with a redhead who was probably the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.

His thought immediately changed to one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen as he walked up to the bar to get another beer. There was a woman sitting at the bar in a green lace dress, with soft looking brown skin, soft dark brown curls, and green eyes wincing at the stage.

He couldn't blame her for the wince. There was a guy dressed like he was impersonating James Dean, in blue jeans, a black leather jacket, and a white t-shirt. His hair was messy and black, however. His blue eyes looked a little crazed as he stood up on the stage butchering Purple Haze in a way that would probably make Jimi Hendrix want to die all over again.

Sam sat down next to the girl on an open bar stool. "Man, that's just not right," he said, more to start a conversation than anything else, "I'm willing to bet listening to a cat get slaughtered would be less painful."

"There's a nice image to start a conversation with," the girl said, her tone sarcastic. But she was laughing a moment later and Sam couldn't help the shit eating grin on his face. "But seriously," she said, turning to face him fully, "I apologize to your ears on his behalf. I swear I can't take him anywhere."

"Your boyfriend?" Sam asked, one eyebrow raised. He hoped that his smile covered his disappointment. This would be the second time he struck out in as many days.

The question earned another laugh. "No," the girl said shaking her head, "A friend. And I use the term loosely. I actually fear for whoever he ends up with."

Sam took that as an opening and held out his hand. He had been on the radar of so many beautiful people lately that it had to be some kind of fluke. He had to take advantage of at least one opportunity or he would regret it and likely wouldn't hear the end of it if his sister ever found out. "I'm Sam," he said, "Sam Wilson."

Her smile turned warm, inviting, as she took his hand. "Bonnie Bennett," she said, her green eyes glinting a little in the low light.

"Are you from around here?" Sam asked, speaking loudly so that he could be heard over the sound of her friend hitting a particularly bad high note.

She grimaced and took a long sip from her drink as she rolled her eyes at the stage. Turning back to Sam she shook her head. "Virginia," she replied.

"What brings you to DC?" He asked.

She frowned looking down at her hands. "Family drama," she muttered.

It was clearly a sore subject and Sam was about to change it when blessedly the song finally ended. Unsurprisingly no one clapped.

"Now that I've warmed up the crowd," the guy on stage said, "How about we make way for my friend Bonbon?! Come on everyone let's hear it!"

"Seriously Damon?" Bonnie gave a long suffering sigh and Sam chuckled as she pinched the bridge of her nose. "What kind of murder laws you got in DC?" she asked as she looked up, her expression deadpan.

Sam laughed outright then. "Come on now," he shrugged, "You can't be any worse than him. In fact I refuse to believe that _anyone_ could be worse than him."

"That's true," Bonnie conceded, "Besides if I don't he'll never shut up."

She got up from the stool and Sam found the nerve to stop her before she walked away. "You want to maybe have a drink with me after your song?" he hedged.

She seemed to be considering him. There was something closed off in her expression that reminded him of some of the clients with severe trauma down at the VA. It was gone a moment later and she was reaching out and pulling his dog tags from underneath his shirt. Sam coughed to hide the hitch in his breath as her eyes bore into him and he fought the urge to squirm in his seat.

"I'd like that," she said finally, "You could tell me the story behind these."

She dropped the tags and turned, heading in the direction of the stage. Sam couldn't help but watch the view from behind as she walked away.

Everyone in the bar gave a collective sigh of relief as the guy she had called Damon left the stage and handed over the microphone to her. Sam doubted it mattered to anyone what she sounded like or what song she sang. He had been serious when he had said nothing could be as bad as her friend.

They all waited as she picked a song. Sam wondered what her taste in music would be like. Her friend didn't have bad taste, he just couldn't sing.

As the song Bonnie had chosen began to play, Sam recognized it right off. Tammi Terrell's rendition of "All I Do". As she began to sing he wasn't as surprised as he should have been to learn that she had a voice that would do the song justice.

The shit eating grin was back as Sam listened, bobbing his head along. Some of the patrons were swaying and dancing in their seats. Bonnie being _that good_ as much of a surprise as her friend being _that bad_. But this surprise was a good one and as Bonnie looked right over him and smiled as she went into the chorus Sam decided that there was no way in hell that he was leaving without giving her his number.

 _ **End Notes: Hopefully I get some feedback for this one. But thanks for reading as always. If you guys like this I will continued and if not I will just delete this and pretend like it never happened. Anyway wish me luck on my manuscript! Lol**_


	2. PART TWO: REVELATIONS

**Title:** Strong in the Broken Places

 **Rating:** M

 **Fandom:** TVD/MCU

 **Genre:** AU/AH/Crossover

 **Pairings:** Bonnie Bennett/James "Bucky" Barnes, Bonnie Bennett/Natasha Romanoff, James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers, Bonnie Bennett/Sam Wilson, Steve Rogers/Natasha Romanoff, Bonnie Bennett/Steve Rogers, Steve Rogers/Sam Wilson, James "Bucky" Barnes/Sam Wilson, Natasha Romanoff/Sam Wilson, James "Bucky" Barnes/Natasha Romanoff, Bonnie Bennett/James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers/Sam Wilson/Natasha Romanoff, Ororo "Storm" Munroe/Thor Odinson, Thor Odinson/Jane Foster, Jane Foster/Ororo "Storm" Munroe, Ororo "Storm" Munroe/Thor Odinson/Jane Foster, Damon Salvatore/Darcy Lewis, mentions of other canon pairings, ect.

 **Summary:** When Bonnie Bennett, inhuman and former HYDRA captive, has to leave the safe haven of the Xavier Institute For Higher Learning to join the battle in DC after the "death" of her father Nick Fury she captures the hearts of four broken people. Over time, somehow, together they make something whole.

 **Warnings:** Polyamorous Relationships, Violence, Language, Mentions of Torture, Minor Character Death, etc.

 **A/N: Thanks again for reading. Also I am thinking of doing a crossover fic with Bonnie and some of the Black Panther characters, possibly poly but maybe just a few different fics for different pairings. Let me know if you are interested!**

 **PART TWO: REVELATIONS**

Bonnie Bennett looked at the number saved in the contacts of her phone and sighed. It was a burner phone. She would use it while she was in DC and then dump it. She hadn't even been able to give Sam Wilson her number in return.

It was funny honestly. She and Damon had gone to the bar in hopes of having one last night as civilians. It was meant to be a normal, carefree night, before shit hit the fan.

But things had overlapped quicker than Bonnie had thought that they would. She had met Sam and he had gone from a nice guy to a potential security risk in a matter of minutes.

She liked him. He was one of those people that probably got people to like them immediately. He was open and warm in spite of what he had went through during his time serving the country. She could understand why he worked at the VA. He had put her at ease.

It was a rare thing for her. The calmness. She was able to put on a good show in public for the most part but she was always on her guard. It was a side effect of both her captivity and being Nick Fury's only child. Then there was also the additional secret of her powers and keeping it hidden.

It was the reason that prior to taking residence at the X-Mansion, well really prior to captivity and meeting James and officially interacting with Damon, she hadn't had any real friends. She didn't trust people.

She had tried harder to make friends when she was younger. But in middle school she got tired of fielding questions about her father and explaining his absences. Then when her mother had gotten remarried she had spent most of her time at her grandmother's. She had felt like an intruder in the new family that her mother and Rudy were trying to build.

By the time she reached high school it was too late for her to renew her efforts in fitting in because her powers had begun to develop and Bonnie was pulled out of school for her own safety and the safety of the other students.

As far as friends went Damon and Ororo were it at the moment. Damon was much in the same boat. Just as her only contact with Mystic Falls was one person in her grandmother, he only kept in touch with his brother Stefan. They both only told the two so much as it was.

Bonnie supposed that she still had James and Natasha. But friendship didn't seem the right way to describe either relationship. Particularly in terms of James as her love for him ran much deeper than that.

There was also Hill but if Bonnie were honest she was more of a big sister and maybe a pseudo-handler than a friend.

Sam had been another possibility before he had reminded her of why she had always kept people at arm's length in the first place. She had let her guard down. Had relaxed as she listened to his smooth voice regal her with war stories and had been on the receiving end of that gapped tooth smile. But then he had mentioned meeting Captain America on a morning run and her hackles had risen again.

It wasn't because she thought Sam was involved in anything they were there to fight against. It was more of the mention of Steve Rogers reminding her why she was there and taking her out of the moment.

She didn't have normal relationships because she didn't live a normal life. All of her relationships were with people who were already in the thick of it, starting with her father. To potentially endanger someone that was on the outside by bringing them in wasn't an option.

"You're overthinking this," Damon said from the driver's seat of his Camaro, "I get why you're afraid of the danger in your life spilling over. But you need normal friends. You're going to get sick of me sooner or later and then you'll really regret not calling this guy."

"You don't have any normal friends either," Bonnie said turning slightly in the passenger's seat.

Damon shrugged. "That's different," he said, "I don't have normal friends because normal people wouldn't be able to tolerate me."

Bonnie rolled her eyes. "So you're saying I'm not normal?" She asked, mock offended. She had pretty much come to terms with as much a long time ago.

"No you're not," Damon said, "But normal people like you so you can blend in. And anyway this guy is probably the best candidate as far as normal friends go. I mean…who's more likely to get someone like you and me, an ex-soldier working at the VA or say some random guy who works as a bus boy and has blonde highlights?"

Bonnie laughed. "You're still annoyed that Stefan made friends with Matt while you were gone I see," she grinned, "One day I'll actually have to meet them to see what all the fuss is about. I mean I remember Matt from middle school. He seemed like a nice enough guy. Besides your brother can have friends besides you Damon and you haven't seen him since the whole rescue thing anyway. As far as he knows you're at some swanky private college no one has ever heard of before. He still doesn't know you're a mutant remember? So let him have fun with the other humans."

This time Damon rolled his eyes. "He can hang out with humans all he wants," he said, "I'm just saying that becoming BFFs with your girlfriend's ex-boyfriend is unnatural."

Bonnie gave him a look which he ignored. "How is it anymore unnatural than becoming best friends with someone with whom you've been held captive with?"

"That's actually an extremely natural occurrence," Damon said, "I mean traumatic experiences are the catalyst for all types of relationships. And anyway you're changing the subject. Are you going to call the guy or what?"

Bonnie frowned. "How about we save the whole making new friends thing until after we take down HYDRA?"

Damon didn't argue. Still there was more than one reason that he was pushing this and Bonnie knew it. They both cared about James in different ways, even if Damon refused to admit it. There was a chance that even after all of this was over he wouldn't come back to Bonnie or at the very least it would be a while before he did. Or he could even go back to Steve Rogers instead. In any case Bonnie knew Damon was trying to push her to move on. Set up other options. But even if in the end James wasn't an option, Bonnie didn't believe that moving on was either.

 **:::**

Maria Hill placed the small hard drive on the table where Director Fury sat. The laptop in front of him hummed lowly in the quiet of the sterile and empty room. This safe house was underground. Less likely for them to face anymore intruders.

"This hard drive was in the bouquet of orchids that was left for Bonnie," Hill stated.

Fury narrowed his good eye at her before picking it up. "What do you think is on it?" the former Director asked.

Hill shrugged in response. "One way to find out," she said.

She watched as Nick inserted the drive into the port and waited as he fished through it to check for files. There were three folders and both Hill and Fury recognized the codenames on two. "Bonnie and Damon's files from captivity," Hill said, eyes wide, "We've never been able to get ahold of these before. Who would just hand them over to us?"

Nick shrugged. "We don't need them," he said, "We've done enough test to know what they're capable of and Bonnie's told us most of what happened."

Hill frowned. "Most but not all," she sighed, "I know you have your reasons for not wanting to see what's in these files Director but…they could help us. Right now we don't need any liabilities. The more we know the better. Bonnie's powerful but it has to come at some kind of price. Besides even if a part of you doesn't want to know…a part of you _needs_ to know, right?"

Fury kept his expression carefully blank but he nodded stiffly. "She's my daughter," he said. That was all the answer Hill needed.

Hill nodded encouragingly as Nick swallowed and opened the file marked 'Persephone'. Most of the information wasn't new. They were aware of the laundry list of powers and as they had suspected Bonnie had been given some version of the super soldier serum created with the blood of a test subject referred to only as 'The Asset".

As they read on the files outlined Bonnie's night terrors and the burst of uncontrollable power that came as a result of some. The text of the files also described black outs as a result of high emotion or usage of too much power that had resulted in the deaths of some of Bonnie's handlers as well as other prisoners.

Her healing abilities seemed to have limits as well. The more power she expelled the longer her body took to heal if she were physically injured. They'd even gone on to test the length of time that less severe injuries took as opposed to more severe injures.

The files described Bonnie being strapped down and her bones being broken. Broken legs. Broken arms. Broken ribs. A punctured lung. After each injury Bonnie was made to perform increasingly high levels of power demonstration and sometimes made to fight against other prisoners. Each time she was denied all but the bare minimum of medical care as they measured the length of time it took for her body to heal itself. Sometimes it was hours. Sometimes days. Sometimes weeks.

Nick closed the folder. "See," he muttered, "Nothing we didn't already know. And what we didn't know…we didn't need to see."

Hill cleared her throat and ignored the tears welling up in her eyes. Bonnie was always smiling. Always giving Fury a hard time. Always had a comeback. Was always so determined. Most of the time you couldn't tell how deep her scars ran. She wondered what they would find if they kept reading the file. Fury wouldn't be able to do it. She would have to go alone later.

"At least we learned her limits," Hill said, "Let's move on to Salvatore's. He's going to be helping out whether we like it or not. He sticks to Bonnie like glue. You know that. We'll need to know what he can do if we want him on the team. There's no use in making plans if we don't know what they are capable of."

Not minding the change of subject Nick moved on the file marked 'Nosferatu'. This one would be easier. They had no real attachment to Salvatore. They hadn't known him until after the rescue from HYDRA and even then he had been closed off to everyone but Bonnie. They didn't know much about him aside from what they had researched for the sake of having Intel on the people around them and his relationship with Bonnie.

They weren't surprised to read about Damon's vampire like mutation. He was a mutant who sustained himself partially on food and water and partially on blood. He had retractable fangs. Biological sonar much like a bat. Super speed. An enhanced healing factor. Enhanced strength. Enhanced agility. Telepathy. Dream manipulation and illusion projection. He was weakened by physical injury. His eyes and skin were sensitive to sunlight. He was also particularly susceptible to powers involving pyrokenetics.

There were graphic descriptions of his torture as well that Nick skimmed through. Apparently he had also aided in the torture of other prisoners through mind manipulation and illusion planting.

"He won't be entirely useless it would seem," Nick said as he backed out of the file.

Hill shrugged as he hovered the cursor over the last file. "Debatable," she smirked. She frowned as she read the last file name. "Winter and Spring? What do you think that is?"

Without answering Nick opened the file. They were greeted by an array of video files and Nick clicked on one at random.

As the video opened the first thing that they noticed were the array of flowers about the otherwise mostly sparsely furnished room. There was a bed in the corner. A toilet, sink, and tiny shower stall in another. Other than that there was only a small dresser that housed vaseful after vaseful of flowers.

Bonnie was laying in the bed, curled up in the fetal position staring blankly at the far wall. They waited. Watching the video for some kind of change what seemed like forever.

Then Bonnie seemed to startle. There was no sound and so they couldn't tell what had set her off. Their answer came a moment later as the door to Bonnie's room opened.

Hill said a silent prayer that they weren't about to witness Bonnie's torture firsthand. She relaxed slightly as Bonnie did. Still her eyebrows furrowed in confusion as a smile graced Bonnie's lips.

They watched as a tall figure entered the room. Male. His long hair obscured their view of his face. But he did have one distinguishing feature. A metal arm.

Hill's hand gripped Fury's shoulder before she consciously knew what was happening. "Is that…?" her voice trailed. It was clear from his expression that it was exactly who she thought it was. The man that had killed him. "Why would he be...? Why would she be smiling?"  
Hill frowned as she watched the man cross the room and hesitantly place one knee on the small bed. The hand made of flesh reached out and then froze. He moved to retract it but Bonnie caught it before he could, tugging him toward her.

Bonnie resumed her position on the bed curling up in a ball, but this time the intruder wrapped himself around her burying his face in the crook of her neck.

"What the hell does this mean?" Hill asked.

"It means we either have to keep digging through these files for ourselves or it means that one of us needs to ask Bonnie about them," Nick responded.

"She's your daughter," Hill said using his own words against him.

"Let's keep digging," Nick said gruffly. It wasn't the first time that he avoided having a much needed conversation with Bonnie and it wouldn't be the last.

 **:::**

The whole drive to New Jersey, Natasha held onto the orchid. She held onto it as she teased Steve about dating and their kiss. She held onto as they talked about trust and what people could mean to one another and when. She held onto it when she told Steve that he was in the wrong business if he wanted a friend.

"I just don't get how you could say that we can't have friends but you want me to go on a date with someone," he said.

Natasha rolled her eyes. "Having a friend and getting laid are two different things," she said. Steve gave her a look and she sighed. "I just mean that for people like us," she said, "Doing what we do…sometimes you need a little more than friendship to look forward to at the end of a mission. Sometimes friendship isn't enough, even if it's real."

"What about the orchid?" Steve asked, fishing for information, "Is that from a friend?"

Natasha's lips twitched slightly. "Not exactly," she said.

"Someone special then?" Steve hedged. He wasn't too surprised when she rolled her eyes again. But he stayed quiet because she was biting her lip and looked away and he was sure that if he stayed silent she would open up. Or at least she would open up as much as someone like Natasha ever did.

"She might've been," she said, "but she was someone special to someone else first before I came along and so it never got that far."

Steve raised an eyebrow. "She?" he asked. He wasn't sure if he was more surprised by the fact that it was a woman they were discussing or the fact that Natasha was actually being candid. "So you-"

"Swing both ways?" Natasha smirked, "Bat for both teams? Yeah I do. Am I saying it in terms you can understand gramps or should I keep trying more euphemisms?"

"I get what you mean," Steve sighed, even though he was used to the ribbing.

" _Yeah_ you do," she said, her tone clearly suggestive.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Steve asked.

"I saw the way that you were flirting with the running man this morning," she said, "And I still fully expect you and Rumlow to have some heated hate sex at some point."

Steve frowned. "His name is Sam," he said, choosing not to comment on the remark about Rumlow.

"Sam, then," Natasha grinned, "he was cute." Steve rolled his eyes but didn't say anything. "You aren't denying it," she said.

"You're not lying," Steve shrugged as he turned his eyes back to the road.

Natasha laughed. "I'm taking this as a green light to start setting you up with guys too and he is going to be the first on the list," she said.

Natasha didn't let go of the orchid when they made it to the training base and got out of the car. She held onto it as Steve was haunted by the ghosts of his past in the form of memories and old photographs of Peggy Carter and Howard Stark on the walls.

She twisted it around by the stem as they came upon the room with the ancient Intel programing. She gripped it in her fist as the consciousness of Dr. Arnim Zola revealed himself to them and they watched as Nick Fury's picture flashed on the screen marked deceased as Zola told them of the ways in which HYDRA had infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D from the early days of its creation.

She held it as she said words that Steve didn't understand. "She was telling the truth," she had said, "No one really believed her. HYDRA was supposed to be dead. I didn't really believe her but she was telling the truth the whole time. They told me not to worry. To just help her. That some other organization was probably using the name as cover….I didn't believe her."

But Steve had no time to ask questions because Zola was revealing that they were in danger. She stuffed the orchid in her pocket when Zola revealed that the building was about to come down around them even before they made a move to try to escape.

As the explosion began and he lifted the cover of the vent close by and tossed it aside before pulling Natasha down into the opening and raising his shield to cover them both, Natasha had one hand in his and one around the orchid in her pocket.

 **:::**

Damon Salvatore didn't too much like sleeping in a motel. Especially since he was now used to the luxuries that the X-Mansion afforded. However, since it was for Bonnie, he would deal. Joining Bonnie's wayward father in his new underground hovel wasn't an option. The way Fury and Hill saw it, Bonnie was being tracked. If they resided in the same place, then it would lead whoever was keeping tabs on Bonnie straight to the not so dead Director Fury.

While Fury didn't like leaving Bonnie to be tailed he knew she wasn't helpless and she was pass the age when she would allow him to do any and everything to protect her no matter how bad the idea was. Besides, she wasn't alone. She had Damon and Ro and that would be enough.

Damon wasn't really worried, because he knew exactly who was keeping tabs on Bonnie and so did she. Neither of them saw any point in telling Fury or Hill the truth because they hadn't believed them when they had told them the exact same thing upon their rescue months earlier.

Damon knew that wherever he was now or whenever he popped up again, the last thing that who Damon affectionately and mockingly referred to as the Terminator would do would be to hurt Bonnie. He was gone. Far gone. HYDRA had fucked him up pretty bad but they had never been able to touch his bond with Bonnie. Even under the worst conditions and under the worse torture he hadn't laid a hand on her no matter how many times he was ordered to test a power of Bonnie's or as a form of punishment. He was even the one who had freed them after all.

Still Damon was no fool. He knew that Ororo and even he wasn't as safe from Bucky. He would still be in his cell at whatever HYDRA base they had moved Bucky to if Bonnie hadn't begged the cyborg to get him out along with her. He owed Bonnie his life for that. And again for her vouching for him when S.H.I.E.L.D had found them. He could have easily ended up in another cell under lockdown. No one knew him and like Bonnie he had still had some of the HYDRA programming upon rescue. Lucky for him, no one was willing to argue with Nick Fury's daughter, at least to a point.

Damon could understand that. As judgmental as Bonnie could be sometimes, she was also a good judge of character. If she trusted someone, more often than not that person was trustworthy. Point blank and period. If she went up to bat on someone's behalf, then that person was worth fighting for. That was why when all of this was over, Damon was going to help Bonnie get Bucky back. No matter how many dead bodies the guy left in his wake between now and then.

Damon laid with his back propped up against the headboard of the motel bed and looked over at where Bonnie slept in the other bed across the room. Ororo had her own room and was likely updating the professor. She had wanted to room with Bonnie but Damon had refused to let her. As powerful as the woman was, she couldn't handle Bonnie's night terrors. She might have been able to fight off an attack if Bonnie made one but she wouldn't be able to bring her back from the brink if she blacked out. Damon was the only person besides Bucky and later Natasha that could do that.

Bonnie always had nightmares in unfamiliar surroundings. It had taken her weeks to get used to the women's dormitory at the mansion and even then there were nights where she had to get up and retreat to the garden. Still it wasn't as bad as when she had first arrived and she had nearly killed Logan when he had woken her from a particularly dark nightmare. If not for Wolverine's healing abilities he would have been the next memorial statue resurrected in the courtyard next to that of Jean Grey.

Damon was startled out of his thoughts by the sound of Bonnie tossing and turning in her sleep. There were only two things that ever came next at this stage, screaming or gasping for air.

Sighing Damon climbed out of bed and walked over the next bed. He kneeled down beside Bonnie and gripped her arms, holding them to her side so that she wouldn't hurt herself.

He wouldn't wake her. It would do any good. Not yet anyway. He would have to try the only thing that would calm her. He would have to get into her head first.

Damon closed his eyes and concentrated. He had done this before. So many times when they were fresh out of captivity that he was able to push pass the walls that she had built up and slip into her mind with ease. He waited until the illusion that he wanted to plant was firmly in place.

He shook her awake gently. "Bonnie," he said, "it's okay. I'm here." He watched as her eyes opened and widened. He knew that it wasn't him that she was seeing. It wasn't his voice that she was hearing. It was James Buchanan Barnes.

Just as he thought it would, the fear the dream had birthed dissipated and she relaxed. "James," she said, sounding hopeful and uncertain, "Is it really you? You're home."

Damon looked down as her eyes teared. He didn't like this part. Lying and giving her hope. But if he could calm her down, then she would just go back to sleep and in the morning she would think it was a dream. He listened with his enhanced hearing and noted that her heart rate was still too high. She was still prone to attack if provoked.

Damon forced himself to look at her. "I missed the spring," he said.

Damon watched as she relaxed further and she smiled even as tears flowed. Damon tensed however, when her hands reached out and framed his face. "You can't leave me again," she said as she sat up fully. "You have to stay."

Damon swallowed before responding the way that he always did. "Always." He opened his mouth to tell her to close her eyes and go back to sleep. She usually listened with no problem after that. But before he could open in his mouth something unexpected happened. She pulled him forward and looked as if she might kiss him. Not him, but Barnes. Instantly becoming frantic, Damon pushed her away.

"James?" Bonnie frowned, "What's wrong? You know me…I know you know me. You _have_ to know me. I protected your mind. I couldn't protect you but the memories…"

She reached out to him and he stood, taking a step backward. "I'm sorry Bonbon," he whispered, "I was just…trying to help. It's never gone this far before."

"What?" Bonnie asked, her eyebrows furrowing in confusion. But then after a moment her face crumbled as realization her. "Get out of my head, Damon," she hissed. He opened his mouth and he wasn't surprised to find himself sent flying into the far wall. "Now!" she demanded as he slid down to the ground.

Damon retracted his powers and he sighed as the illusion dissipated and it was just him and Bonnie in the room again without the ghost of the man that she loved. "I'm sorry," he said.

"You can't do that to me Damon," she said, her body trembling, "Of all people y _ou_ should know that my heads been fucked with enough. You _can't_ do that."

"It worked before," he muttered, "I just thought…"

"Before I was still half crazed and out of my mind and it was necessary for my survival and everyone else's to keep me stable so that I wouldn't hurt anyone," Bonnie sighed. She ran a hand through her hair. "There's too much at stake right now," she frowned, "I need to be clear headed. Next time just wake me up. I don't care if I snap your neck or set you on fire or if I put you in a figure-four choke hold. Next time just fucking wake me up."

Damon nodded and moved to apologize but stopped as there was a knock on the room door. They both froze for a moment, but then Damon stood and was immediately on his guard. Bonnie got out of bed and wiped her face. Her expression turned stoic and he knew that she was tampering down her emotions in the way that she did sometimes. This time he didn't try to fight her on it.

Her stance became defensive as well and she held her arms out, prepared to use her powers if necessary.

"It's Ororo," a familiar voice said after a moment, "Are you all awake?"

"Yeah," Damon said as both he and Bonnie sagged in relief. He let out a sigh as his body relaxed. Ro had the extra key to their room but they all knew better than to enter a room without warning.

"Good," Ororo responded, "I'm coming in." Damon listened as Ororo placed the card key into the slot and pulled it out again. There was a beep and then a moment later she was walking into the room looking as intimidating and regal as ever even in blue jeans and a black tank top.

"I have some news," she said as flipped on the lights, "They've tracked Captain Rogers and Agent Romanoff to an old S.H.I.E.L.D base in New Jersey. We have about an hour window but it's a three hour drive between here and there. Bonnie you can get there the fastest. There's another base close that's underground and about an half hour away from the coordinates that Fury gave me to place the others. You can get some things you might need there. Weapons. A vehicle. If you teleport then you'll have plenty of time to grab anything you might need from the base and then drive out the rest of the way."

Damon glanced at Bonnie as she nodded. "I've got it," she said.

Ororo studied Bonnie a moment and then looked in between her and Damon with a frown. "Something has happened," she said and it wasn't a question.

"It's nothing," Bonnie said too quickly, "I'm fine."

Ororo frowned. "If you are not up to this Bonnie," she said, "I need you to be honest. You're powerful but that does not mean that you can't get hurt or be distracted. We can send Damon in if we need to. Natasha is familiar with him as well and with his enhanced speed, there is a good chance that he will make it on time."

Damon opened his mouth to agree but Bonnie held up her hand to stop him. "There's also a good chance that he won't," she said, "I can't risk that. I can't let anything happened to Nat and I promised…" She frowned as she glanced at Damon. "I promised James that I would protect Steve when he couldn't," she whispered, "Even if he doesn't fully remember Steve or that promise. It has to be me. I'll be ready in five."

Without another word Bonnie disappeared into the bathroom. When the door closed behind her Ororo gave Damon the look that he was familiar with. It was the pre lecture look that she gave the students that got into trouble. "What did you do?" she asked, but that wasn't a question either, more of a demand.

"I…," he frowned, "I'll fix it."

Ororo walked up to him and her eyes clouded slightly as they narrowed. Damon took a step back. "See that you do," she toned warning, "You know more than anyone what she has been through and you know better than anyone what I will put anyone through if she gets hurt. Fellow teammate or not, that includes you."

Damon was about to remind her that he wasn't actually on the team. He and Bonnie were more freelance mutant vigilantes and that was a recent development. However, it wouldn't help his case and so he decided against it. "I'll fix it," he repeated.

Bonnie had forgiven him of worse and so as Ororo nodded, he was sure he would keep the promise.

 **:::**

The Winter Soldier sat stoically at the dining room table in the home of Alexander Pierce. He listened as the man gave him his orders. Detailed the targets and the timeline.

He tried to keep his expression impassive. But his mind kept wandering to his girl. Had she gotten the flowers? Had she gotten the hard drive? Was the other…the one he had also freed from capture taking care of her like he promised?

When Pierce's housekeeper came back for a forgotten phone he didn't flinch as the man pulled out a gun and shot her point blank. He had seen death before. He had caused it. He had done worst.

Besides that his mind wasn't there. They had his body. He was their machine, but they couldn't break his mind no matter how hard they tried. He remembered brown hair and green eyes. He remembered blonde hair and blue eyes. He remembered orchids. He remembered a pencil moving across a blank white page sketching. He remembered that he had a home. He remembered the spring.

Not a scream. Not a dead body. Not torture. Not orders. Nothing could compete with that. No matter what they did to him. In his mind, it was always spring.

 **:::**

Steve listened as Rumlow and the others searched the rubble for any sign of him and Natasha. She was still unconscious in his arms and he knew that if something didn't happen soon that there would be no escape.

Frantically he searched around the rubble and when his eyes landed on a wooded area he decided to take a chance. When the lights that combed overhead moved to another area, Steve strapped his shield to his back and gathered Natasha in his arms before making a run for it.

Once they were under the cover of the trees, Steve was once again at a standstill. He didn't know which direction to run. They had probably already discovered and raided the car they had stolen and so there was no use in trying to get back to it.

Steve tried not to panic as he felt the search party getting closer again. He was just about to pick a random direction when something on the ground caught his eye. A pink orchid bloomed out of the grass seemingly out of nowhere.

Steve reached into the pocket of Natasha's jacket and pulled out the orchid that was still there, wilted and charred but still there. She had kept it. It made her think of a person that she trusted. Someone that was not quite her friend.

Making a snap decision Steve walked in the direction of the orchid. It wilted as he stepped over it but another bloomed a few feet away and he followed that one as well. For the longest time there was no sound except for the distant voices of the agents hunting them down and Steve's breathing as he moved to follow the trail or orchids that began to move faster and faster, trying to catch sight of them before they wilted.

Finally he reached an opening that led out onto an abandon road. He could no longer hear the voices in the distance and for that he was relieved. He stared at the road and waited. After a moment a black armored car appeared a few feet away seemingly out of nowhere from where it was hidden from behind some kind of cloaking mechanism.

Steve tensed slightly as the driver's door opened, not knowing what to expect. He watched as a woman got out. She wasn't large in stature but he knew from personal experience that size didn't always have any merit on capability. She was wearing a black leather suit with a belt at the waist that had an "X" on the buckle. Her boots clicked against the ground as she walked toward him. Her brown curls framed her face, but her face was obscured by a black mask over her nose and eyes.

As she eyed him from behind the mask, her green eyes almost looked familiar. "Captain," she greeted, "it's a pleasure to meet you."

"And you are?" Steve asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You can call me Infinity," she grinned. She gestured toward Natasha. "I'm surprised you followed my little clues if she was knocked out," she said, "I mean she's the one who knows how I operate. You took a chance there."

Steve was curious about the code name but didn't ask. He wasn't surprised that she knew who he was. That didn't surprise him anymore. "When you slipped her the orchid before," Steve explained, "She said you were a friend."

The woman cocked her head to the side and eyed him in disbelief. "Natasha doesn't have friends," she said, "Not that she admits to anyway."

He believed it then, that she knew Natasha well. "Well," he said, "she said that she trusted you."

"Now _that_ I believe," she laughed. She opened the back door and gestured toward the back seat. "You'd better put her inside before she comes to and realizes you're carrying her around like a damsel in distress," she said.

Steve smirked. "You'd think she'd kick my ass?" he asked.

The woman grinned in turn. "I know she would," was the reply. She gave him a once over and he shook his head. "But you're cuter in person," she said, "Even covered in dirt and rubble so you might be able to convince me to patch you up afterward."

"Flirting at the most inappropriate times," Steve commented as he careful laid Natasha across the back seat of the car, "You really are friends with her."

"You're lucky she's not awake," she said as she adjusted Natasha to a comfortable position, "She'd try to convince me to throw in a naughty nurse uniform to sweeten the deal."

Steve laughed and it seemed inappropriate that he would be able to do so given what he had been through and what he had just learned but he welcomed it. "I don't think I can call you Nurse Infinity though," he said, his tone fishing, "If you're going to flirt at least give me a real name."

She stood from where she was leaning over Natasha, brushing back the hair that had fallen into her face, and turned to him. "So I guess subtlety wasn't a thing back in your day, huh?"

"You seem like a straight forward kind of woman," Steve countered, "I thought you'd appreciate it. Besides, it would be easier for me to trust you if I know who you are."

"It's never easy to trust anyone, Captain," she said.

She stepped aside and he set his shield down on the floor in between the seats before shutting the door. "Steve," he corrected instead of arguing with her point. It was true after all. He was learning that the hard way as of late.

She looked hesitant a moment and then nodded. She turned and walked toward the driver's side. "We should get going," she said.

Steve nodded and sighed. He walked around to the passenger's side, got in at the same time she got in on the other side. They didn't speak again until she started the car and began driving. "Bonnie," she murmured, "My name is Bonnie."

"Bonnie," Steve smiled, leaning back against the seat. The name seemed softer than she projected herself to be but Steve thought it fit. Like Natasha he suspected she kept her vulnerabilities hidden, but hidden didn't mean they weren't there. Besides she had told him her name. "Well, Bonnie, thanks for the save back there."

"Don't mention it," she said, her eyes remaining on the road. She sighed after a moment and then she spoke again. "You can trust me, Steve," she said, "I know those are just words but I want you to know that anyway."

For some reason Steve believed her. "I've had a horrible couple of days," he said, crossing his arms over his chest, "I watched a man I respected die. I watched an organization started by good people crumble. I became fugitive and everyone I know is trying to kill me. Then tonight, I found out that the very organization I thought was dead was alive and thriving in S.H.I.E.L.D and everyone that sacrificed and died…it was for nothing."

Bonnie shook her head. "It wasn't for nothing Steve," she said, seriously, "It just means the fight isn't over yet."

He looked over at her and found her glancing at him her expression seeming earnest even behind the mask. It made sense to him then. She was enough like Natasha to understand her but she was different enough, optimistic enough to provide a counterbalance. He liked her, he decided. He doubted anyone else in their line of work thought that way anymore except a select few. Except him especially. "I thought we were going to die back there," he said, "Or get captured. When I saw those orchids for the first time in a long time I felt real and true hope."

There was silence and when he looked at her again she was holding the steering wheel with a vice grip. She looked tense.

Steve frowned. "If I said something to upset you-" he began but she shook her head.

"No," she said, "No. It's just that…" Her hands flexed on the steering wheel. "Someone said something like that to me once. He was…a prisoner of war. He…said things were always cold and dark. The war was never over for him. But the first time that he saw me in person I was in my garden. Watering orchids. He said he felt warm for the first time in years. That he felt hopeful, that the war would be over and he could find a home again."

Steve eyed her curiously. He had obviously triggered something. He wanted to know more but he didn't want to push. But the words she had used…"Did he find it?" Steve asked, "Home, I mean?" That was the worst part of being in this time. His home was in the past. His home was dead. There was no finding home for him.

"Yeah," she whispered, "But there's still some demons he's fighting. Some things he's not free of yet, so he still can't come home."

"He will when he's ready," Steve said, thinking about so many that would never get the chance to, one in particular. "That's what you do when the war is over. You come home. That's where you hope lies. Sometimes that's all there is to look forward to."

Steve closed his eyes and was surprised when he felt a warm hand wrap around his own. "I'll tell you when he does," she said, when he looked over at her, "Sometimes another person's story can give you hope too."

Bonnie was letting go of his hand and her eyes moved back to the road a moment later and she seemed to close herself off. Steve was sorry for it. He missed the warmth of her hand immediately. He wanted to tell her that he wanted to know the end of the story whenever it came but instead he changed the subject. "Where are we going?"

Bonnie shrugged. "Back to DC," she said, "but after that you'll have to tell me. The safe houses aren't really safe anymore. Neither is anything S.H.I.E.L.D related at the moment. Is there anywhere that you can go? Anyone that you can think of that you can trust?"

Steve thought a moment, stuffing is hands into the pockets of the hooded sweatshirt that he was wearing. His hand caught on something and he pulled it out. He smiled as he looked down at the business card with Sam Wilson's name on it. He handed it over to Bonnie. "You think you could find out where this guy lives?" he asked.

Bonnie took the card from him and when she looked at it she burst into laughter.

"What's so funny?" Steve asked.

Bonnie shook her head. "Nothing," she said, "Just…I know where he lives that's all."

Steve raised a brow. "You know Sam?"

"Kind of," Bonnie replied, "But he doesn't know that I know him. He doesn't know this me." She gestured toward herself. "He knows the civilian me."

This time it was Steve that laughed. "This world is way too small," he said. Bonnie nodded in agreement. Privately Steve thought that her knowing Sam made him trust her even more.

 _ **End Notes: There was no Sam this chapter but he is back next installment. Also there some Bonnie and Natasha moments. I hope you are all still enjoying this fic. I am so grateful for the reviews and the comments it makes me feel so much better about this story. Thanks so much for reading**_.


	3. PART THREE: SAFE

**Title:** Strong in the Broken Places

 **Rating:** M

 **Fandom:** TVD/MCU

 **Genre:** AU/AH/Crossover

 **Pairings:** Bonnie Bennett/James "Bucky" Barnes, Bonnie Bennett/Natasha Romanoff, James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers, Bonnie Bennett/Sam Wilson, Steve Rogers/Natasha Romanoff, Bonnie Bennett/Steve Rogers, Steve Rogers/Sam Wilson, James "Bucky" Barnes/Sam Wilson, Natasha Romanoff/Sam Wilson, James "Bucky" Barnes/Natasha Romanoff, Bonnie Bennett/James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers/Sam Wilson/Natasha Romanoff, Ororo "Storm" Munroe/Thor Odinson, Thor Odinson/Jane Foster, Jane Foster/Ororo "Storm" Munroe, Ororo "Storm" Munroe/Thor Odinson/Jane Foster, Damon Salvatore/Darcy Lewis, mentions of other canon pairings, ect.

 **Summary:** When Bonnie Bennett, inhuman and former HYDRA captive, has to leave the safe haven of the Xavier Institute For Higher Learning to join the battle in DC after the "death" of her father Nick Fury she captures the hearts of four broken people. Over time, somehow, together they make something whole.

 **Warnings:** Polyamorous Relationships, Violence, Language, Mentions of Torture, Minor Character Death, ect.

 _ **A/N: Please excuse any errors. I tried to be careful but there is always something. Anyway thanks for all of the reviews and love. Please keep them coming. I feel like as much as I love writing this fic I will need constant reassurances of how it is going. Lol. As always thanks for reading!**_

 **PART THREE:SAFE**

Bonnie Bennett stretched her arms over her head and sighed. They would have to stop at a rest stop soon so that she could change. She couldn't walk around like this. She told Steve as much and she wasn't surprised when he frowned.

"It'll be fine," Bonnie said, keeping her voice steady and reassuring, "I won't be long. Besides, we need to check on Nat. She should've woken up by now."

Steve nodded but he looked as if something was bothering him. She wasn't surprised when he started to ask questions. "What's with the suit anyway?" he asked, "Why wear it if you were just going to change? And who exactly do you work for?"

Bonnie took the next exit before she began to explain. "I broke into a, S.H.I.E.L.D base before I came for you guys," she said, "To get weapons and supplies and things. It's still active and I'm being watched as it is and so it wouldn't do well for my face to show up on their camera footage. I know about HYDRA infiltrating S.H.I.E.L.D, actually I've known longer than you have. I was held captive by them for a while and I was freed a few months ago. Nat was a part of the rescue team that found me. That's how we met…I tried to warn them but no one believed me. They thought it was another organization using the HYDRA name to throw them off and there were plenty members of HYDRA within S.H.I.E.L.D walls by then, all of them ready and equipped to bury the incident. As for who I work for…I don't work for anyone. I'm being recruited by the people who gave me this suite but I'm not an official member of their team. I guess you could say I'm freelance. But this is my first job outside of the HYDRA programming. Up until a few days ago I was being kept under protection. Taking refuge at a school that acts as a safe haven for people like me."

Steve swallowed. He could understand now. Why her guard went up in seconds if prompted and why she could cut herself off so quickly. Still, he couldn't tell that she had something that traumatic in her past, but everyone carried their scars in different ways. He wondered exactly what her programming had entailed. He had enough tact not to ask, but knowing that she had been held prisoner just fueled the fire building inside of him. She was just another person whose life had been taken away by them, even if she had gotten it back. She hadn't gotten it back completely or else she wouldn't have been there to save him and Natasha in the first place.

That was another thing he was beginning to understand more fully. Natasha's attachment to Bonnie. When Natasha's files had been made public Steve had read them, partially because she was his teammate and he wanted to know about who he had been working with and partially because he had wanted to be able to get a better read on Natasha as a person. It had told him enough, and if Bonnie's programming had been anything like the Black Widow programming it was no surprise that Natasha felt an affinity towards Bonnie. Though, as he thought about the orchid he was sure that Natasha had clung to even as they were about to die, he couldn't help but think that it was much more than that.

Steve's eyebrows knitted together as he processed the last thing that Bonnie had said. "What did you mean by people like you?" he asked, "Does it have something to do with the thing that you did with the flowers?"

Bonnie nodded. It was weird to her. Giving this much information about herself to someone that she hadn't known very long. Her whole life she had been conditioned in one way or another to keep herself a secret from other people. Even before her powers had surfaced she had been keeping the secret of being the daughter of Nick Fury. However, since meeting Steve, she had basically been laying herself bare to him and they had only been on the road for an hour. She had even mentioned James in a veiled sort of way, which probably shouldn't have surprised her as much as it did since Steve was the last link to Bucky's humanity outside of herself.

"I…," Bonnie started before she stopped. She always hated even thinking of revealing herself as a mutant. She knew from experience the dangers that being inhuman could bring and Ororo had told her firsthand of the oppression that they faced. "Have you seen any of the news coverage over the last few decades about people that have…special abilities?" Bonnie asked, taking a different approach, "I know you've been out of touch for a while but…most of the papers refer to them as mutants. Ironically inhuman is the more humane term for it."

"So you…?" Steve remembered seeing the news coverage, littered throughout the internet. He had for the most part ignored it. There had been more pressing matters at the time when the Avengers had first formed. Tony had claimed that it was just a bid to sell more papers, but the more he thought about it the more that he felt that there was no other explanation for what he had seen in the forest.

"I'm a mutant," Bonnie said. She went on to describe her powers. How they had kept morphing and growing as she got older. "By the time I was captured I was classified as a divine entity," she said, "It was a joke to them I guess. The codename they gave me… was Persephone, the goddess of spring."

In the silence that followed Bonnie was relieved to see the rest stop come into view. "Now that you know the truth it's okay if you want to freak out you know," she murmured, "or if you aren't able to trust me anymore. I won't get offended or anything."

Steve was brought out of his thoughts by her words and he immediately shook his head. "It's not that," he frowned, "I mean. I get it. Being changed into something else overnight. I'm not exactly human either. I know the whole super soldier thing isn't the same thing but…I know what it's like to have something change you from a regular person to an asset. I don't regret my choice but I lost a lot because of it…the thing is…I had a choice. But you…"

Bonnie watched as he looked down at his hands, seeming to try and think of the right words to say. She blinked as she wondered if anyone would ever believe that she had rendered Captain America speechless.

"Your powers weren't a choice," he continued after a moment, "After you were freed from capture you could've gotten out and stayed out, but you're here. You're risking getting recaptured. You're risking your powers getting exposed. If what you said is true, you're practically invincible but HYDRA knows your weaknesses, knows what buttons to push. They have enough information about you to hurt you in one way or another. Yet you saved my life. Saved Natasha's life. Put yourself right back in the line of fire. Why would you do that? It can't just be for Natasha. No matter how much she helped you before…there are other people who could've gotten us to safety back there."

"Maybe," Bonnie said, "but I could just be here to save you and then once I get you to Sam's I could disappear again."

"Maybe," Steve grinned. He shook his head before he continued. "But you won't. You're in this for the long haul. Not just for her," he said gesturing toward the backseat, "And not just because you want to take HYDRA down. Why are you doing this?"

Bonnie ignored the question until she pulled into the rest stop parking lot. "Jeez, Rogers," she sighed, "You don't do anything by halves do you? You said you wanted to get to know me and you're asking all the hard questions first."

Steve shrugged. "I wouldn't mind knowing your favorite color or if you've ever had a pet but this stuff seems a little bit more pressing at the moment," he said, "You didn't deny that you were sticking around so, we can cover the small stuff later."

Bonnie parked the car and turned it off. She turned to face him completely, her green eyes meeting his blue ones. "Natasha isn't the only person I care about involved in this," she revealed, "There are things that I can't tell you right now but… when the time is right, I will. It isn't just about them either. I'm not a saint or anything close to it but I'd like to think I'm doing this because it's the right thing to do. I still feel guilty…about getting out. There are people who weren't able to. People who I couldn't save. Then there are the people who haven't been captured yet. People that could be targets. That could be next. People that I could save by ending this. Then…there's you."

Bonnie wasn't surprised when Steve looked taken aback. "Don't look so surprised, Rogers," she laughed, "I'm sure I'm not the first person willing to back you up without question. You kind of seem to have that effect on people."

Bonnie looked away a moment, thinking about the promise she had made to James on one of the good days. The more lucid days. The days when the memories weren't so far out of his reach. Then she thought about herself. How far she would be willing to go for everyone that she cared about if it came down to it.

"I know that when you're different people kind of forget that you can break. That you're still human," she whispered, "Sometimes you forget that too. I know how people see you Steve. You're a national icon, a superhero. Infallible, invincible, a beacon of righteousness and hope. I can't even begin to imagine how exhausting that must be, to be that symbol all the time. Maybe you really are all of those things but before you're anything else you're just a person trying to do the right thing just like everybody else is."

Bonnie glanced over at Natasha and then back at Steve again. He was looking away from her now but she could tell that he was still listening. "I have all this power and sometimes I feel like I should be able to handle everything on my own because of it," she said, "maybe it's part of the programming. They didn't like it when I showed emotion and so I learned to shut down. But Natasha…she reminded me that I'm still human. That being strong physically doesn't mean I won't need help sometimes and it doesn't mean that I should have to go through everything alone, just because my power means I should be able to handle it or whatever else comes at me. The same thing goes for you, Steve. Sometimes superheroes need saving. Sometimes they need help. Sometimes they need to be reminded that they're a hero. Sometimes they need to be reminded that even if they are a hero, they're human first and that's okay."

Steve cleared his throat but he still didn't look her in the eyes. "I had someone," he whispered, "That did that for me before. They're gone now."

Bonnie wanted to tell him then. That James wasn't gone. That he was alive, but it wasn't the right time. "Well," Bonnie said, smiling sadly, "I kind of owe you for looking after Nat and like you said, I'm in this for the long haul. Besides that I told you I had HYDRA programming and you didn't try to kill me afterward. Not only that but I told you I was a mutant besides and you didn't ask me to give you a circus sideshow showcase of my powers or freak out. That pretty much tells me that you're worth the trouble so…if you want I could be a stand in for a little while."

Bonnie moved to get out of the car before he could answer but Steve grabbed her arm, stopping her quick retreat. "You don't need to be anyone's stand in Bonnie," he said, when she turned to face him again, "Not just because no one could really replace who I lost. I mean…" He frowned and ran a hand over his face. "It sounds like you're saying you want to be friends I guess," he continued after a moment, "I just meant to say that…I'd be happy to have you as a friend. Not because there's a place that needs to be filled or anything like that. Just because you're you. I'd appreciate having you."

Bonnie raised an eyebrow in amusement, more so to cover up the way that his words affected her than anything else.

"As I friend," he amended quickly, "I'd appreciate having you as a friend."

"You're cute when you're flustered," Bonnie grinned, "You get all red. I never knew I was capable of making a national treasure blush."

Steve reached up and scratched the back of his neck. To his embarrassment he turned even redder as Bonnie leaned across the seat and kissed his cheek. As she leaned back, her flowery scent lingered in the air.

"I'd appreciate having you too," Bonnie said. There was a very deliberate pause before she tacked on, "As a friend." Steve smiled and shook his head as he watched her pull a duffle bag he hadn't noticed before from the back seat. "I'll be fast," she said, "We don't have much time and we've killed enough already."

As Bonnie left the car and headed in the direction of the restrooms Steve sat back in his seat and closed his eyes. He really wanted to sleep. Or just not think. But there was too much to think about and there was too much happening in too short a time to keep his mind clear. However, even with his mind on other things majority of his thoughts were centered on Bonnie and her words and he was pretty sure that, had this not been the most inconvenient time and had he not been sure that something was going on between her and Natasha, he might've done something really idiotic just then like kiss her.

It was just admiration, and gratitude, he told himself. How could he not admire her when she had saved him and she was doing what she was doing after going through what she had went through? He admired Natasha for much the same reasons.

If only she hadn't put so much of what he had been feeling into words. It was as if she had seen right through him. She reminded him of a time it hurt to think about but it brought to mind things that had once made him happy just the same.

Sam had asked him what made him happy. Bonnie had brought those things to mind, even if it had been inadvertently and somewhat painful.

He had told Natasha he had wanted someone with shared life experience. He had meant that, even if it had been said because he knew the likelihood of finding someone like that was slim. But then Sam had appeared out of nowhere and Natasha had kissed him and Bonnie had saved him and read his mind somehow. Steve was pretty sure that if he gave this anymore thought then his head would explode.

Besides Bonnie had shared experience with Natasha as well. Steve was sure that part of the reason Natasha was so fixated on finding him someone was because she was fighting against her own void. Even if she wouldn't admit it, it was clear that Bonnie meant more to her than she was saying. From the way that Bonnie talked about her, it was also clear that it wasn't exactly one sided.

"God," a voice said from behind him, "I can practically hear the gears in her your head spinning. What are you overthinking now?"

Steve turned and faced Natasha as she sat up from where she had been laying on the back seat. He had forgotten that Bonnie had suggested that they check on her during the stop. "How's the head?" he asked, instead of answering her question.

"I'm fine," she sighed, "I've been through worse." She looked around her and frowned. "How the hell did we get out of there?"

"Well," Steve smiled, "the shield protected us from the explosion but we would've been captured for sure if someone hadn't come and led us to safety. She's in the bathroom right now."

Natasha's expression changed from confused to intrigued. "Is she cute?" she asked, "You were thinking about making a move weren't you? That's why you were brooding." Steve opened his mouth to object but she kept talking over him, "Don't give me any crap about it being a bad time either," she said, "it's never a good time for people like us. What? Do you have to ask her parents for permission to court her or something? Would you like me to chaperone?"

Steve rolled his eyes. "Obviously you're fine," he said, "We were worried about you for no reason. You might change your tune when you see her though. I mean…who knows…she might be _your_ type."

"I told you I-" Whatever she was about to say seemed to be caught in her throat as she looked out of the window and toward the restrooms.

Steve couldn't help but smirk as it was clear even if he hadn't looked in the direction that she was staring in that Bonnie had finished changing and come out of the restroom. "You were saying," he laughed.

Natasha wasn't listening. She was already climbing out of the car and on impulse Steve got out as well. There reunion would likely distract them both to some extent and one of them needed to remain on alert. If a part of him was curious about what would happen when Bonnie saw that Natasha was awake he chose not to dwell on it.

He walked around the car in time to see Bonnie had stopped mid-stride as Natasha came to stand in front of her. Bonnie smiled dropping the duffle bag she'd been holding, her hands moving up to touch Natasha's face. He couldn't see Bonnie's face but the casual touch surprised him. Natasha didn't really like to be touched.

"You're awake," Bonnie said, "Are you okay?" There was concern in her tone but also something else that Steve couldn't place.

"Yeah," Natasha nodded, sounding a little breathless, and then, "You came for me."

"Of course I did," Bonnie replied, and then quieter, "If something had happened to you I'd never forgive myself. I missed you."

"I thought we were going to die back there and I would never see you….," before Natasha could finish the statement Bonnie pulled her into a hug and she went without any fight. Steve watched as she practically melted into Bonnie, wrapping herself around the smaller woman. "I'm sorry I didn't believe you about…everything," she murmured just loud enough for Steve to hear.

Steve looked away feeling like an intruder as Bonnie whispered something into Natasha's ear that coaxed out a laugh before they reluctantly pulled apart. "I've rubbed off on you way too much," Natasha said in reply to whatever it was Steve couldn't hear.

As they both turned back toward Steve, Natasha slipping her hand into Bonnie's as they began to walked back toward the car; Steve finally got to see Bonnie's face without the mask obscuring it. His eyes widened as he realized who she was. She was wearing black jeans, knee high boots, a gray t-shirt and a leather jacket instead of a green dress but he recognized her face immediately. The girl that had been in the mall earlier on the escalators. He wasn't sure why he hadn't seen it before.

Bonnie laughed at his expression. "I know," she sighed, "I'm not that impressive outside of the suite and mask, right? Or are you just traumatized by seeing Nat show someone physical affection."

"You're still impressive," Steve said and then frowned, "No…I mean you…don't look bad outside of the suite. I mean…you look good." Natasha raised an eyebrow at him. "You know in civilian clothes," he finished quickly. Steve was sure that his stammering stage had died with his attempts to court Peggy but apparently it was back.

Bonnie and Natasha shared a look that Steve couldn't read but when Bonnie looked back at him she just nodded. "Thanks," she said, "I guess it was just Natasha and the PDA thing, huh?"

Steve was about to respond when Natasha poked Bonnie in the side. "Be nice to me," Natasha purred as she sidled up to her, "Or I'll have to give you a spanking and traumatize Steve even more."

Steve didn't really need that mental image, given where his mind was just a few moments before. He looked at Bonnie's flustered expression and was sure that she agreed. "We should probably get going," Bonnie said, moving away from Natasha slightly, "Anyone else want to drive?"

Steve volunteered and Bonnie tossed him the keys. "Before you call shotgun," Natasha said, "We can both sit in the front and you can ride in my lap if you want. Wouldn't be the first time."

Bonnie glared as she walked over to pick up her duffle bag, but it seemed more playful than angry. "I liked it better when you were unconscious," she said, before walking over to the car and climbing into the back seat.

"She's so easy to mess with," Natasha smirked, "Almost as easy as you. You should be grateful she's here to give me another target." She turned to Steve and gave him a once over. "So," she said, her tone neutral but her eyes assessing, "What'd you two talk about while I was out?"

Steve stuffed his hands into his pockets. "What makes you think we talked?" he asked.

"Cut the bullshit, Rogers," Natasha sighed, "I told you…you're a bad liar. Besides, she's a woman that not only just saved our asses but that has ties to me which you obviously figured out. Of course you talked."

"We just talked about some things we had in common," Steve shrugged.

Natasha's eyes narrowed slightly. "Like shared life experience?"

Steve sighed. "Um, well…"

"Look, Rogers," she said, shaking her head, "You're probably half in love with her already and I get it… _trust me_. She doesn't really realize it, but she kind of has that effect on people. Without even trying."

"I knew someone like that once," Steve said, thinking of Bucky and his easy way with women. His easy way with people.

When Steve looked back at Natasha she was giving him a very pointed look. "I know someone else like that too," she said. Her eyes never left his and her expression was serious. "Just remember what I said okay?" she pressed, "About her being special to someone."

Steve knew for sure that she wasn't talking about herself. "If I remember correctly you also said that people can be different things to different people. Just because someone else is important to her doesn't mean she can't have other people that are important in other ways. That are other things to her that she needs."

Natasha straightened, crossing her arms over her chest. "Who are you trying to make feel better, me or you?"

Steve shrugged. "Both maybe," he smiled, "Did it work?"

Natasha opened her mouth but stopped when Bonnie's door opened again. "I just got a call and we need to be making better time," she said, waving her a cell phone in their direction.

Steve wasn't sure if he was happy with the fact that she hadn't been eavesdropping or not.

Bonnie turned to Natasha. "Whatever you were talking about I know you were just stalling. If I agree to sit in your lap, can we go?"

"Okay," Natasha smiled sweetly, "if you insist."

Bonnie rolled her eyes but climbed out of the car and shut the door to the backseat. Steve watched as she walked around to the front passenger's side. "Take notes, Rogers," Natasha beamed, " _That's_ how you make me feel better."

"What, riding in your lap?" Steve smirked. The banter with Natasha he was familiar with. He didn't feel as out at sea as he did when he thought about Bonnie or the fact that he was about to go to the home of a man he barely knew so that he could beg for a place to hide out because he trusted him and Bonnie more than he did people he had been working for even though he had just met both.

"Or letting me ride in yours," Natasha winked as she followed Bonnie's path around the car and opened the door.

Steve climbed in as Natasha did and shut the door behind him. As he started the car up Bonnie climbed into Natasha's lap, settling into a comfortable position before closing the door.

"So where exactly are we going anyway?" Natasha asked, as she wrapped her arms around Bonnie's waist.

"Sam's," Bonnie and Steve said at the same time.

Natasha glanced at Steve. "Your idea?" she asked, even though she knew the answer. Steve nodded and pulled out of the parking lot. Natasha looked pleased with herself and Steve knew he wasn't going to like the next thing that came out of her mouth.

"Nice car," she said seemingly changing the subject. Then she looked at Steve again. "No wonder you agreed to drive," she commented idly drumming her fingers against Bonnie's thigh. Another testament to how comfortable she was with her, but the fact that she allowed Steve to witness it, had to mean something as well. "It's a stick shift," Natasha grinned, "You're good with those, right?"

Bonnie groaned and rolled her eyes. She opened her mouth to say something in his defense but Steve beat her to it. "I liked you better when you were unconscious too."

As Natasha laughed, looking unbothered, Steve was once again unsure if all of them would make it Sam's house alive and this time it had nothing to do with HYDRA.

 **:::**

Damon Salvatore ignored Ororo and Hill as they made plans on what to do next. They were talking in circles and Fury wasn't giving any real input. The man's expression as stoic but Damon had been trained by HYDRA to read people, to pick up certain tells, no matter how small. One glance, one movement could be the difference between life and death. It was funny to him that all of that training would be used now to take down his former captors.

Fury was on edge, still reeling from the fact that not only had he and Bonnie been telling the truth all of this time but the fact that his daughter was for all intents and purposes in a relationship with The Winter Soldier. Or rather what could pass for a relationship with someone that was a brainwashed assassin who had no real memory of his former life including his friend and sometimes lover, Captain America, who just so happened to be the very person Bonnie was taking to safety.

This was getting complicated and fast. Damon knew more than he was letting on and he knew that soon the others would ask questions. The problem was that he didn't know how to answer them. While he knew most of the players, there was so much up in the air at this point.

Bonnie was in love with Barnes. That was for certain. She also loved Natasha, in a different way but it was love even though neither would say it out loud. Then there was the wildcard in the form of the kiss that Bonnie had witnessed between Rogers and Natasha while tracking them. One that was meant to seem staged but Bonnie had read more into, and if Damon trusted anyone's instincts it was hers.

Damon had seen enough old footage to know that Rogers had loved Barnes and Barnes had loved Rogers. But he had also seen the Soldier with Bonnie and there was no question that whatever else he was capable of, any love in him that he still possessed belonged to Bonnie.

Damon was sure that once Rogers met Bonnie he would be smitten. That was just what happened when people met Bonnie. She had a light about her that people liked and Damon was sure that the fact that Bonnie had been taking care of Barnes and had been his only source of happiness while in captivity, would mean something to Rogers when he finally found out. Which either meant he would fall for her completely out of gratitude and awe, or be jealous, or some combination of both.

Then there was Sam. Sam who Damon had encouraged Bonnie to be friends with even knowing that the guy hadn't exactly been interested in something purely platonic, because he had hoped she would have an option outside of Barnes. But now she had too many options and besides that Wilson had had heart eyes when he was talking about his run in with Rogers to Bonnie when they met. According to Ororo they were headed to Wilson's house for refuge, which basically guaranteed that shit would get weird. Which also guaranteed that Bonnie would need her best friend. The problem was that after the stunt that he had pulled Bonnie wasn't talking to him.

Bonnie was deliberately reporting to Ororo and Hill. She was avoiding talking to Damon and Fury was avoiding talking to her. That would be a mistake. However, since Damon had never been a fan of the guy or his parenting techniques he didn't really care if the man ended up distancing himself from Bonnie even more. He was more worried about how he was going to make things up to Bonnie so that he could be there for her when things went pear-shaped.

He hadn't been able to accomplish what he had intended with the illusion and there wasn't anything he could do short of her seeing Barnes in person. However, that wasn't an option. Hill was talking about using Bonnie to draw Barnes out but Ororo and Fury were against it for different reasons. Fury because he didn't want Bonnie in the line of fire, though it was way too late for that, and he didn't want to risk her recapture. Ororo because she thought it would be counterproductive as Bonnie would be pissed if she were to find out they wanted him captured and as nothing good could come from them trying to capture The Winter Soldier into S.H.I.E.L.D custody when it was dripping with undercover HYDRA agents and when they were trying to protect fugitives of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Besides Barnes, there was only one person that Damon could think of that could fix what he had broken with Bonnie. Sighing he pulled out his the phone he was using for the road and dialed the number he had memorized.

"Damon?" the familiar voice said on the other end, "Please tell me it's you. I haven't heard from you in a while and I just. I've been worried."

Damon glanced around him, to make sure the others weren't paying too much attention to him. When he found them still arguing, he turned away and spoke. "Yeah," he said, "It's me, little brother. But I don't have time to catch up. Bonbon and I are in some deep shit. I can't tell you anything. All I can say is….when it's over…hopefully we can come home. The problem is…she doesn't have her head in the game and it could make or break everything. She's focusing on everyone else involved in this and I think…she needs to be reminded what else she's fighting for and that she needs to take care of herself too."

Damon had been briefing Stefan on his the true nature of his absence more than even Bonnie knew. He told him little but it was just enough for Stefan to know his brother was not away at college and was apart of something he couldn't discuss outright.

"What you want me to do?" Stefan asked.

Damon smiled. He could count on Stefan not to ask questions. He was used to getting bits and pieces of information. Damon was sure of that, even so, he knew more than he let on about his powers at the very least. "You're not going to give me shit for worrying about someone besides myself?"

"No," Stefan sighed, "I'm glad you can manage it actually. Worrying about someone else besides you or me. Bonnie's your friend, you don't have a lot of them and you don't make them easy. I know what she means to you. So I'll ask you again. What do you need me to do?"

"I need you to pay a visit to Sheila," Damon replied, "I would call her myself but she likes you more. Tell her what I told you. Tell her what Bonnie needs to hear. Record her saying it. Send it to me at this number and I'll send it to Bonnie."

"Alright." There was a pause. "I'm guessing you're on a burner," Stefan said after a moment, "Will I be able to reach you at this number if I need to after this?"

"For a little while," Damon said, "but don't worry…I always make sure you know how to reach me right?"

"Yeah." Damon waited as he knew that his brother would likely say something brooding and sentimental before hanging up. As if one cue Stefan continued. "Whatever you're doing," he murmured, "Just take care of yourself and…make sure you come home, brother."

"I told you I'm coming home," Damon said, "No matter what happens I'm bringing Bonnie with me and also maybe a guy with a metal arm but we'll talk about that later." The last Damon said in a rushed whisper, which he was hoping his brother wouldn't make out.

"A metal what?" No such luck. "Damon seriously? What the hell is going on?"

"Going through a tunnel," Damon said making static noises into the receiver, "Gotta go. Call you later. Kiss Elena for me!"

When Damon disconnected the phone call he turned to see Ororo standing behind him, looking over his shoulder with a raised eyebrow. "Did Shaft or Carmen Sandiego hear any of that?" he asked, unbothered as Ororo's blue eyes rolled.

"No," she said, and then, "Is it wise for you to mention The Winter Soldier to your brother…even in passing?"

"Where exactly do you think he'll be hiding out when all of this is over?" Damon hissed under his breath, even though Hill and Fury were still going back and forth rather loudly behind him. "He doesn't remember much but he remembers Bonnie," he muttered, "She isn't going to let them take him into S.H.I.E.L.D. custody if there even is a S.H.I.E.L.D, because right now it's looking more like low calorie HYDRA-lite for the dieting terrorist. He's gonna need some kind of warning before we end up at the boardinghouse."

Ororo didn't argue as she placed on brown hand on her hip. "You're not half as amusing as you think you are, Salvatore," she said, her accent surfacing full force.

Damon shrugged. "Not as amusing, still means I'm amusing right?'

Ororo opened her mouth to respond but stopped when Fury finally looked in their direction. "You two want to fill us in on whatever it is you're whispering about?" He asked.

Damon watched as Ororo turned and stood upright in her team leader pose. "Just wondering, Director Fury," she said sweetly, "When we're going to talk to Bonnie about all of this. These matters do concern her after all. Shouldn't she have a say? I understand that you had kept her out of your line of work thus far and that you saved her from her captors, in order to insure that she wasn't used as a pawn. Aren't bait and pawn the same thing? You also promised that you wouldn't keep her in the dark so that she wouldn't be walking blindly into danger. If you're planning anything she needs to be aware of it."

Damon had to admire Ororo for her candor and for the cover up of their real matter of discussion.

"Whatever we plan will go through Bonnie as well as the others once we figure out what we want to do," he said, "we won't move forward with anything without her approval."

"If you don't mind me saying so Director," Ororo told him, meeting his gaze head on, "If you want Bonnie's approval you'll have to stop avoiding actually speaking to her long enough to get it."

Hill looked like she wanted to hug the woman for saying what they had all been thinking. Damon couldn't say that he blamed her.

:::

When Steve finally parked a block away from Sam's house, Bonnie was the first to get out. She grabbed her duffle bag and a few things from the trunk. When the others followed, Steve grabbing his shield from the back seat, Bonnie's phone began to ring before she could join them on the walk to the house.

Bonnie looked down at her phone and wasn't surprised that it was Damon. She was still mad at him and what he had done had set her off kilter. She had been able to not think about it while on the road but that was because she had had Steve and Natasha as a distraction. She was beginning to feel guilty about not telling Steve the whole truth but there was still so much that he hadn't processed yet and it wasn't the right time.

She still had to tell them both that her father was alive and he had asked her not to tell him that he was in fact her father. Another secret in a list of secrets that Bonnie was tired of keeping.

When this was over she didn't want to go back to the school. She had no intention of joining the X-Men and she had no intention of hiding any longer. She wanted to be home with her Grams and she wanted to be somewhere that James could find her if they both managed to live through this.

"Bonnie?"

Bonnie looked up at the sound of Natasha's voice. Her blue eyes were impassive but Bonnie knew better. She was reading her, like she always did. She knew that Bonnie wasn't telling her everything and Bonnie had told Steve as much while Natasha had still been unconscious.

"You two go ahead," Bonnie said, "I have to answer this."

Steve and Natasha hesitated a moment, both looking concerned. Bonnie gave Steve a pleading look and he nodded once before wrapping an arm around Natasha's shoulders and steering her toward their destination. Still as they walked, it was at a much slower pace than necessary.

Bonnie watched them a moment before answering the phone. She found it funny that as much as Steve claimed that Natasha denied their friendship, there were things both subtle and unsubtle that showed that the denial was just words.

As much as Natasha liked to tease Steve she also wanted to help him adjust to the times and she pushed him to connect with other people, even if he didn't take her attempts to find him a date seriously. Bonnie had been able to see just on the ride over that they meant something to each other and for that Bonnie was grateful, not just because she knew how closed off Natasha kept herself from the outside world but because of her own guilt.

Bonnie wasn't oblivious, even though like her father she had the habit of ignoring things that she probably shouldn't. She knew that there was tension between her and Natasha that would probably never come to anything because of the fact that Bonnie had given so much of herself to someone that was out of reach. She didn't want to be the only person that Natasha felt comfortable enough to open up to besides, Clint, who Natasha had spoken of but Bonnie had never met.

Then again Bonnie didn't know how long Natasha would have Steve once he found out about James, just like she didn't know how long she would have James once he fully recovered and remembered Steve. Now they were getting Sam in the middle of all of this and it would probably just complicate things even more. There were too many cards at play and Bonnie really didn't want to think about it.

Pushing her thoughts aside Bonnie answered the phone. "I know you're not talking to me," Damon said before she could speak, "That's fine. I get it. I fucked up and I'm sorry. I just wanted to tell you that even if you hate me right now I'm not going anywhere. You're stuck with me. I'm going to send you something. You don't have to forgive me. You just have to watch it. I'm hanging up now."

Before Bonnie could respond the line went dead. When the phone alerted her a few minutes later, Bonnie reluctantly opened the video message. Her eyes widened as she saw her grandmother's face as the video began to play.

She heard Stefan's voice telling her Grams that he was recording and then her grandmother was looking into the camera and smiling. "Hello Bonnie. I hear you're having a hard time," she said, "It wouldn't be the first time and it won't be the last. Whatever you're going through keep going. I won't keep you long. Just know that I'm proud of you and you're stronger than you think. You're stronger than all of this. Make sure you take care of yourself. Stay safe and when you're ready you come home. I miss you. I love you. I'll talk to you soon."

Bonnie smiled down at the phone, fighting back tears, before she schooled her expression. She sent Damon a quick reply. " _Thanks. I needed that. I forgive you. You're still a jackass._ " After sending the message, she stuffed her phone into the pocket of her jeans.

When Bonnie looked up she wasn't too surprised to see that Steve and Natasha had stopped walking to wait for her. Bonnie quickly walked up to catch up to them.

"You okay?" Steve asked as they fell into step with each other again.

"I'm fine," she smiled. Bonnie wasn't sure if he believed her because even as he kept an arm around Natasha, Steve shifted his shield onto his back and held out his free hand to Bonnie.

Without giving it much thought, Bonnie took his hand, threading their fingers together. They were on the run and about to fight a fight that they weren't sure that they could win. They had all learned things and been through things that hadn't fully sunken in yet. Bonnie was certain that none of them were alright, but as she saw Sam's house getting closer for the first time since they had left New Jersey she was sure that they would be.

 **:::**

Sam Wilson wasn't expecting to open his front door to Steve Rogers and Natasha Romanoff and he damn sure wasn't expecting Bonnie to be with them. But after he had let them in and he had shown Natasha to his bathroom and Steve to the bathroom in the master bedroom so that they could get cleaned up Bonnie had explained more than Sam could really process.

Bonnie was sitting on his kitchen counter her legs dangling over the edge. He had to admit that he was happy to see her again, happy to see Steve again, he just wished that it was under different circumstances.

"So," he said, "Do divine beings eat pancakes?"

Bonnie laughed, rolling her eyes. "Yes," she answered and then, "You're not going to ask about super soldiers or spies?"

"If they're good enough for divine entities I think that just about covers everybody," he grinned.

"Thanks for not being weird about the whole mutant thing. This whole situation is weird enough already." Bonnie kicked out her feet as she spoke. More than likely a nervous gesture. "Thanks for letting us stay here," she continued, "It's not every day that S.H.I.E.L.D fugitives show up on your doorstep with a mutant in tow."

"You could say that again," Sam nodded as he opened the door to the fridge. He didn't really know what to make of everything he had been told, including Bonnie's mutant status and her former stint in a HYDRA cell. "Can I ask you something?" he said, as he pulled the eggs out from the top shelf.

"Shoot," Bonnie said.

She was probably expecting some sort of interrogation about her abilities. While Sam was curious, it could wait. He was more concerned about something else. "When we met at the karaoke bar, did you know who I was?"

Bonnie shook her head. "I hadn't even officially met Steve yet," she said, "I talked to you because I wanted to. Because you seemed nice and you had good taste in music."

Sam smiled as he set the eggs on the counter. "Is that why you're here now?" he asked.

"We're here now," Bonnie said, her tone turning serious, "Because both Steve and I felt like we could trust you and Natasha trusts our instincts."

"You _can_ trust me," Sam said, "I'm just not sure how you could know that from meeting me only once, I guess. People like you…like Steve and Natasha…it doesn't seem like you're in a line of work that allows you to trust easily."

"We're not," Bonnie said looking down at her hands.

"I guess I better be ready to step up then," Sam said, causing her to meet his gaze again.

She looked more surprised by his statement than he thought that she should have and when she spoke he found out why. "You already have," Bonnie responded.

"What I meant was," Sam said as he started mixing pancake batter, "I could come on board. I know you got more than enough power and experience between the three of you to take these guys down. But they're things in my background that I haven't told you about yet that could make me an asset. So if you need me I'm here."

"Why would you want to get involved in this?" Bonnie frowned, "It's bad enough we came here and involved you as much as we have already. This is dangerous and just us being here is putting you at risk."

"I know that," he said, "I get that. Still, even without the whole greater good thing, you and Steve being involved is enough of a reason for me to get involved."

"Why?" Bonnie looked even more confused. "That wouldn't be enough of a reason for most people."

"I'm not most people." Sam paused in his breakfast preparations to give her his full attention. "Maybe it's the same reason that you and Steve felt strong enough about me to trust coming here after meeting me less than a handful of times," he countered, "Besides if Captain America and someone who is classified by government files as a goddess need my help I can't really say no without feeling like shit afterwards. For a number of reasons, including but not limited to my childhood dreams of being a superhero."

Bonnie's eyes narrowed. "I knew there was an ulterior motive in there somewhere," she said, "You got a codename in mind."

"I'll show you my files a little later," he said, "Since you said we can't make any moves until we get the word, I think you guys should take the day off. Steve and Natasha looked pretty bad when you got here. Once you see the files though…the codename will be kind of obvious."

 **:::**

Natasha could only brood for a moment about the business with HYDRA infiltrating S.H.I.E.L.D. meaning that she hadn't actually gone straight, before Steve talked her out of her own head. It was when they were talking about what they would do next that she brought up something that they would eventually need to ask Bonnie about.

"It's not like we have a director to answer to anymore," Steve had said and then Natasha had remembered.

"Actually we still might," she said and Steve's eyebrows shot up to his hairline. It might have been amusing under different circumstances. "I don't know how much Bonnie told you about her capture and about her powers," she started, "But the reason she was taken the first time…what brought her existence to HYRDA's attention I mean…was the fact that she brought Phil Coulson back from the dead."

Steve looked at her with a sort of slack jawed expression. "So you think," he said after a moment, "That the reason why she was called here now before she came for us was because she brought Fury back."

Natasha nodded. "I'm not sure," she said, "but I think so." She hoped so, even though people like her didn't hope. "When she was rescued," she said, "I saw them interact. They're fond of each other. If she could've helped him she would've."

"So she can resurrect people from the dead," Steve said, still processing. Natasha nodded. "So this whole thing about her being classified as a divine being…?"

Natasha looked away. "Not a joke," she said, "She's probably one of the most, if not the most powerful inhuman that ever existed. Her powers don't settle with time, they grow and adapt. Because of that we'll probably never know the full extent of them and she's always going to be a target. But she worries about everyone else and not herself so-"

"That's why you want to protect her," Steve said cutting her off.

Natasha nodded again. "That's why I'll a _lways_ protect her," she said, "Even if someone else comes along and decides that they want to too."

Before Steve could reply Sam came into the room and interrupted them. "I made breakfast. If you guys…eat that sort of thing."

Natasha noted the amused expression on Steve's face at the words but kept her observations to herself. Steve had probably smiled in the last few hours between Bonnie and Sam, more than she had seen him smile in the entire time that she had known him.

They walked into the kitchen in time to see Bonnie hopping off the countertop. "Do you have blueberries?" Natasha asked Sam, "Bonnie likes blueberries on her pancakes."

Sam nodded. "Yeah they're in the fridge and some strawberries if you want," he said. He turned toward Bonnie as he pulled plates down from the cabinet. "Why didn't you say something?"

Bonnie opened her mouth but Natasha cut her off. "She doesn't like to bother people," she said.

Bonnie gave her a look, but still she sat down as Steve pulled a chair out for her. Natasha knew that Bonnie wouldn't argue with the point because she was right.

"Do you really like coffee or should I double check?" Sam asked as Natasha took the plates from his hands.

"She likes cream with coffee in it," Natasha grinned as she proceeded to pile food onto one of the plates. "Prefers tea if you have it."

Bonnie rolled her eyes but thanked Sam as he put some water on to boil. She turned to Natasha and gave her a glare of mock offense. "I can answer for myself you know," she said, then raised an eyebrow as Natasha set down a plate of food in front of her, "Make my own plate too."

"You could've…but you didn't," Natasha said as she proceeded to make another plate, this one she piled high with pancakes, blueberries, strawberries and whipped cream.

When she was finished she placed the plate in front of Steve who frowned. "What is this?"

"Red, white and blue," Natasha beamed proudly, "Star spangled pancakes."

Steve and Bonnie shared a look before Steve spoke. "I vote we knock her unconscious again," he said.

"Seconded," Bonnie nodded raising her fork, "I hold her down and you take care of the rest."

"That sounds more like you're talking about bondage," Natasha interrupted, " _That_ I could probably get into."

Bonnie looked as if she didn't want to finish her breakfast. "You can't talk about bondage at the breakfast table," she sighed.

"Why not?" Natasha frowned.

Bonnie ran a hand over her face and Steve looked between the two with something in between amusement and exasperation. "Come on Natasha," he said, before Bonnie could start a lecture that would fall on deaf ears, "Just be glad she didn't take bondage off the table altogether. She just said, no talk during breakfast."

Natasha placed a hand over her chest and smiled. "I've finally corrupted you haven't I? I'm so proud."

"I seriously starting reconsider saving your asses," Bonnie said, "I didn't sign up for this. I feel like I should've taken a crash course in banter before taking this mission."

As they laughed, Sam looked in between the three of them and shook his head. "Are the three of you always like this?"

"Like what?" They all said at the same time and Sam was slightly taken aback.

He didn't really know how to put the dynamic into words. After some thought he settled on the only thing he could think of that came close. "Like an old married couple without the couple part," he answered as he filled his mug up with coffee.

"Steve takes care of the old part I'm assuming," Natasha smirked.

"Seriously," Steve said as he picked up his fork and pointed it in her direction, "The next blunt object I see Natasha and you're out." Even as he spoke he began to eat the pancake monstrosity without much complaint.

"There's a knife block on the counter," Bonnie commented, "Looks heavy enough."

Natasha glared as she sat down next to her. She then looked up at Sam. "I'm a guest in your home, Wilson," she said, "Are you really going to let them speak to me like that?"

Sam blinked at her unbothered. "Hey they're guest too and they outnumber you," he said, "I mean technically allowing them to knock you out would be me showing them a form of hospitality so I don't really care as long as you don't bleed on my carpet or break anything on the way down to the ground."

In the silence that followed Sam thought that maybe he had gotten too comfortable but then Bonnie's lips twitched upward just a bit before she burst into laughter. Steve soon followed

"So you're all just going to gang up on me now," Natasha said crossing her arms over her chest, "Is that how it is?"

"Yeah," both Sam and Steve said at the same time, "That's how it is." Both Bonnie and Natasha noticed the look that passed between the two but neither of them commented on it.

 **:::**

Steve looked up from where he was sitting on Sam's couch and working on a sketch, as Bonnie walked over. He had found the sketch book in one of the duffle bags that Bonnie had brought with her, a post it with his name on in one the cover, just in case he was uncertain of who it was for.

"You found the sketch book," Bonnie said, smiling as she plopped down next him.

"You really thought of everything," he said. He looked across the room to where Natasha was sitting at the table in the dining room area with Sam cleaning guns and talking in quiet tones. "And I do mean everything."

"This may be my first mission but I was trained well," she told him, a hint of bitterness in her voice as she spoke. She was smiling again a moment later, however. "As for the sketchbook," she continued, "It helps to pay attention in history class."

"They taught you guys this kind of stuff about me?" Steve cringed.

Bonnie nodded. "I probably know more about you than you do at his point," she quipped.

Steve shook his head. "Probably," he muttered. He looked down at his work and it drew her attention to the page. He moved to turn it, realizing his mistake too late but her hand on his stopped him. "You can hit me if you don't like it," he said, in an attempt to hide his embarrassment at being caught.

He had drawn her as he had first seen her. In her green dress, coming up the escalator.

"There's no way I really look like that," Bonnie said, as she studied the image, "I saved you so you have to be extremely biased."

"Or you don't give yourself enough credit," he shrugged.

Bonnie sighed and shook her head. "I'm not anything impressive underneath my powers," Bonnie frowned, "I'm just a girl from a small town in Virginia that could count her friends on one hand."

"And I'm just a kid from Brooklyn that likes to pick fights," he countered, "Sometimes things have to be changed from the outside before they can serve their true purpose." He gestured toward the sketch. "Before this was art it was just a piece of paper," he said, "Not to say you didn't have a purpose before your powers. There's a reason why you have your gifts just like there's a reason I was chosen. Art can't exist without a canvas. Besides if a lesser person had all the power that you have I would be worried about what they could do if they decide to abuse it, but I look at you and I'm not worried."

Bonnie looked at him with an expression that he couldn't quite read and when she spoke she sounded dumbfounded. "So did the ability to write random meaningful and powerful speeches in your head come before or after the serum?"

"Before," Steve grinned, "That's why they picked me."

"I knew it," Bonnie said, snapping her fingers. Steve turned to the next blank page and then looked over at Sam and Natasha again. "So," Bonnie asked, "Who's your next subject?"

To Steve it sounded like she was asking something else. "I don't know yet," he answered.

Instead of responding right away she kicked off her shoes and threw her legs up onto the couch. "You'll figure it out eventually," she said as she grabbed Steve's free hand and used it to wrap his arm around her shoulders.

"What are you doing?" Steve asked, even as he complied, threading his fingers through hers as she leaned into him; her back against his side.

"Nothing," Bonnie said glancing over at Sam and Natasha who were now looking back at them. "Figure it out yet?" she whispered.

Steve shook his head. Bonnie gave him an amused look before she closed her eyes.

Steve wasn't entirely surprised when Natasha got up and walked over to them. She didn't say anything as she climbed onto the couch on Bonnie's other side, curling around Bonnie's outstretched legs, her head nestled in Bonnie's lap. It didn't really look like it should be comfortable but Natasha seemed to be at ease.

Steve began to sketch again, this time playing it safe and going with the landscape that he could see outside of Sam's window. When he looked up again, Sam was sitting down in a chair next to the couch and picking up the remote to the television.

"You want to sit over here?" Steve asked.

Sam paused and seemed to be considering something a long time before he spoke. "There isn't really enough room," he said.

Just like Bonnie had been doing a moment before, he was saying something more with the statement, something he didn't want to say outright. "We can make room," a pause, "For you."

The silence stretched and then Sam got up and Steve scooted slightly closer to Bonnie so that Sam could fit in on the other side of him. It was a close squeeze, their sides pressed together. Sam had to throw his arm over the back of the couch to make it at all comfortable. Steve couldn't say that he minded much.

Sam turned on the television and began to flip channels. "How long are you guys staying?" he asked.

Steve sighed. "Until we hear something different from someone we can trust," he said, "In the meantime, we'll have to gather more information. But I think we should lay low and take it easy for now."

Sam glanced over at Bonnie and Natasha, they had both seemingly fallen asleep; Bonnie's head on Steve's shoulder and her hand in Natasha's hair. "It must be weird for them," Sam said, "Letting their guard down enough to fall asleep in unfamiliar surroundings. With their background."

Steve didn't look up from his sketch as he answered. "Maybe they just feel safe here."

"Do you?" Sam asked, "Feel safe here I mean?"

Feeling Sam's eyes on him, Steve finally turned to face him. It registered then, how close they were to each other. "Yeah," Steve answered, his voice coming out lower than intended.

"Good," Sam nodded, before turning back to the television, "You are. All of you."

Steve believed him. Without giving it much thought, Steve turned to the next blank page and started a sketch of Sam.

 _ **End Notes: The timeline for the movie and the fic is a little off because things aren't moving as fast but not by much. Next chapter more of the action takes place and Steve and Bonnie finally see Bucky so there is the fallout from that as well. Hope you all enjoyed the update! Please leave me your thoughts.**_


	4. PART FOUR:HUMAN

**Title:** Strong in the Broken Places

 **Rating:** M

 **Fandom:** TVD/MCU

 **Genre:** AU/AH/Crossover

 **Pairings:** Bonnie Bennett/James "Bucky" Barnes, Bonnie Bennett/Natasha Romanoff, James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers, Bonnie Bennett/Sam Wilson, Steve Rogers/Natasha Romanoff, Bonnie Bennett/Steve Rogers, Steve Rogers/Sam Wilson, James "Bucky" Barnes/Sam Wilson, Natasha Romanoff/Sam Wilson, James "Bucky" Barnes/Natasha Romanoff, Bonnie Bennett/James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers/Sam Wilson/Natasha Romanoff, Ororo "Storm" Munroe/Thor Odinson, Thor Odinson/Jane Foster, Jane Foster/Ororo "Storm" Munroe, Ororo "Storm" Munroe/Thor Odinson/Jane Foster, Damon Salvatore/Darcy Lewis, mentions of other canon pairings, ect.

 **Summary:** When Bonnie Bennett, inhuman and former HYDRA captive, has to leave the safe haven of the Xavier Institute For Higher Learning to join the battle in DC after the "death" of her father Nick Fury she captures the hearts of four broken people. Over time, somehow, together they make something whole.

 **Warnings:** Polyamorous Relationships, Violence, Language, Mentions of Torture, Minor Character Death, etc.

 _ **A/N:**_ _ **No editing here and for that I am sorry. This update took a ridiculously long time to finish so my bad. Hopefully its an enjoyable read. Please excuse all errors! Also review folks!**_

 **PART FOUR: HUMAN**

Sam Wilson watched as Natasha tucked a blanket around Bonnie and Steve. The two were still asleep on the couch. They had shifted when Sam and Natasha had gotten up. Though Bonnie was much smaller in stature, Steve had managed to curl himself around her, his arms wrapped around her torso, legs splayed over her legs and the couch, and his head pillowed on her chest. Sam had to laugh a little at the sight.

"Must be an instinct from when he was smaller," Sam said as Natasha turned to face him.

"Must be," Natasha said stiffly, glancing back at the two of them, a sigh on her lips.

Sam raised an eyebrow at her expression. She was good a being stoic, at hiding things. She was good a manipulating to. He hadn't known her long at all but he was sure of both. So if she was letting him see some kind of emotion there was likely an ulterior motive for on her part. Still, he wanted to ask her something that had been bugging him since they all had arrived.

"Can I ask something without getting my ass kicked?" Sam asked, as he walked towards the kitchen to prepare dinner.

"Depends on what you ask?" Natasha voiced deadpan, as she followed.

"Which one of them was that mournful sigh for?" Sam questioned, "I mean clearly you got it bad for Bonnie but what's the deal with you and Steve?"

Sam opened the door to his refrigerator and scanned the contents. He would order a pizza if he wasn't sure they couldn't even trust someone enough to deliver it without suspecting them to be an undercover HYRDA agent at the moment.

"There's isn't a deal," Natasha frowned, "No deal with Bonnie. No deal with Steve."

Sam looked up and blinked at her with the same straight face that he had seen on her since she arrived. The blank expression might've rivaled her own at any given moment. "You trying to convince me or you?"

Natasha frowned. "What about you? You're interested in Steve right?"

"And Bonnie," Sam nodded, "I'm not being overtly thirsty about it or anything but I'm pretty sure it's obvious to them both. Even if nothing comes of it, I figure I may as well shoot my shot. Even if I'm subtle. But since I got some competition it might be for naught."

Natasha moved to the refrigerator and gently pushed Sam out of the way. She spoke as she picked through his produce. "I'm not the competition you need to worry about for either of them," she said, "Besides that...they're both the kind of people that love and love hard. They draw people in but they also gravitate towards certain kinds of people. Even with the competition you're the kind they would gravitate towards. That doesn't mean that they'll drop someone else for you either."

"Who says I would ask them to?" Sam asked, "We're all adults here. We all just met. I'm not asking for commitment or to buy a house with a white picket fence. I'd be happy to just take one or both of them out sometime. They want something casual cool. They want to try something serious, I mean look at them I'm game either way. They want to date around that's fine too. Might not be if I catch feelings but I figure I'll cross that bridge when I get to it. They're into each other _obviously_ , but I can't help but think that's not the competition you're talking about. They both have someone else?"

"The same someone else I would venture to guess," Natasha admitted, "Steve doesn't know it yet and I'm not one hundred percent sure if it's even true. If my information is wrong or my wires got crossed or if this person even really still exists. I don't know if that someone else is into sharing or if Steve will want to share that someone else with Bonnie when he finds out if that's what's really going on. Or if that someone else will want either or them or just run given what they might've been through. Either way, things are going to get complicated enough without adding myself into the mix."

Sam crossed his arms over his chest. "Whoever it is, they're going to want them. Whatever it takes I bet. Bonnie and Steve, they're not the kind you run from, they're the kind you hold on to for dear life. You know that, even if you won't admit it. You're already in the mix."

Natasha pulled out some asparagus from the bottom crisper and stood up to face him. "Yeah," she scowled, "And it sucks because I know when all is said and done I won't be what either of them chooses. So save yourself the trouble and stay out as much as you can."

"I'm in," Sam said, "You all brought me in when you came here." He took the asparagus from her hands and she reached back into the refrigerator to sift through the butcher's packages on the top shelf for some kind of meat. "And for the record," he continued, "When the three of you decided to take over my couch earlier I had no problem sitting somewhere else but Steve had no problem making room for me."

Natasha froze, picking up on what he was implying. "Did you ask him to?"

"I didn't have to," Sam shrugged, "He's more perceptive than you give him credit for. They both are. They care about you more too."

Natasha stared at the contents of the fridge for another couple of minutes. Sam knew that she wasn't really debating over whether he should cook fish or chicken. "You figure out what you want yet?" he pressed, his tone dry, not even bothering to hide the double meaning of his words.

Natasha stood abruptly and shoved a package of chicken breasts into Sam's chest. "Yes, I have."

Sam rolled his eyes as he took both packages and placed them on the kitchen counter but couldn't help but return Natasha's smirk.

"I get it," Natasha said as she closed the door the fridge, "Why they trust you. I trust you, too."

Sam paused and glanced back over his shoulder to find Natasha giving him an assessing look. Something passed between them as Sam gave her one in turn. It would seem she was right, things were definitely going to get complicated.

 **:::**

Hill had been watching the footage for almost an hour now. Watching Bonnie so vulnerable and the Soldier so human felt almost intrusive, but she couldn't look away. In this particular video the moment was too private to be shared. Bonnie was laying on her bed her back propped against the wall. The Soldier had his arms wrapped around her middle, his head pillowed on her chest. His eyes were closed as she carded her fingers through his hair. Her lips were moving but as there was no sound, Hill couldn't hear what she was saying. Still she recognized the movement and Hill was almost sure that Bonnie was singing.

When the girl had first been rescued she had had night terrors every night. One of the few ways that Salvatore had been able to calm her down was music. One song in particular seemed to work magic on her no matter how far gone she was. Dream A Little Dream Of Me. She had asked Hill to find her the earliest recording she could. The earliest the Hill had managed was the Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong rendition that came out in the 1950s. Salvatore had found a recording by Doris Day. Natasha had beat them all and managed to scare up a copy recorded by Ozzie Nelson recorded in 1931, that was the one Bonnie had been looking for apparently. Though, she favored the Ella Fitzgerald one, a friend she'd said, had liked the Nelson version.

"A friend," Hill laughed without humor, now knowing the friend that she was speaking of and more sure than ever that that was the song she was singing in the video.

Hill watched as the Soldier shifted in the video and even though he had yet to hurt Bonnie, Hill still feared it a possibility. He didn't move to harm her however, he simply lifted his head to press their lips together. Bonnie smiled into the kiss and Hill watched as the orchids in the pot on the table in the corner bloomed.

"They were each other's happiness in a world worse than hell," Hill jumped as Salvatore came up to stand behind her. "They loved each other. Still do."

Hill cleared her throat. "Be that as it may, there are other factors that are in play here."

"You think I don't know that," Damon frowned, "I know you want to bring him in but at the end of the day he's a prisoner just like we were. He's doing what they programed him to do. Following orders. He's been stuck in that hell for decades and he still managed to give a damn about Bonnie and care that she gave a damn about me enough to rescue us both. I know you want to bring him in and take him into whatever is left of S.H.I.E.L.D custody, but remember before he's anything else he's human and he has someone out there who cares about him. More than one someone and I think you know who else I'm talking about."

Hill nodded, dumbstruck. "I'll keep that in mind."

"See that you do," Damon sighed, "Because I'm not sure Fury will and you won't like the outcome if you don't. Bonnie isn't the only one willing to go to bat for him and you know it."

Hill knew it, she knew it all too well. She looked at the file on the desk in front of her that she had pulled upon discovering the Soldier's identity. It was time she started to know the man behind the programing. Taking a deep breath Hill opened the file labeled James Buchanan Barnes and began to read.

 **:::**

When Steve was small and sickly he had spent most of his days in bed. On those days Bucky had been his almost constant companion. He had gotten into the habit of curling himself around Bucky. Bucky had never minded it much. He would just play a record or two to amuse himself and lay very still as not to wake Steve on those days. Sometimes Steve would wake with Bucky's fingers in his hair.

When the war had happened and Steve had grown twice his size, things had been much the same except they had occurred in encampments. They had been in the company of the Commandos. Still when they slept Steve curled himself around Bucky, no matter how much smaller than him Bucky had been and Bucky had carded his fingers through Steve's hair while Gabe and Dum Dum argued over what music to play on the old junk radio they'd found on a raid.

Bucky had loved all kinds of music. Though, he and Gabe could go back and forth about jazz for hours, especially. But during the war when he had been taken captive Bucky hadn't stayed sane by just humming jazz standards before Steve and the Howling Commandos had gotten to him. He'd clung to one song in particular. The song that he had used when he'd attempted to teach Steve how to waltz before their first double date. He'd failed miserably. Steve was too small, too stiff and too lanky at the time. He couldn't keep the steps right and he was always stumbling over his feet and Bucky's feet and Bucky's larger frame. He'd never been able to learn the dance let alone lead it.

Bucky had needed the skill much more than Steve had, and used it more than Steve could've ever dreamed of. In those days, Steve was just a small sickly shadow eclipsed by Bucky's charm and light and too scared to ask a girl to dance. Until Peggy. The song was Dream a Little Dream of Me. The something slow that had kept Bucky sane and that Steve was going to have the band play for his first dance with Peggy.

Steve felt like he was still dreaming as he shifted from sleep to wakefulness. He was wrapped around someone, but where his head had once rested on a hard chest there was now soft and pliant skin. Cloth covered smooth and pillow-like breasts. Small hands were carding through his hair, nails scratching at the nape of his neck, making him sigh. The voice of an angel, beautiful and melodious singing a song that made him want to cry.

" _Stars shining bright above you,_

 _Night breezes seem to whisper "I love you"._

 _Birds singing in the sycamore trees._

 _Dream a little dream of me."_

Steve squeezed his eyes shut and wrapped his arms tighter around the body beneath him. It was like being in the past and present all at once. The present was something that he didn't understand. Didn't recognize. He felt so separate from it. No one knew him as anything other than he appeared. Captain America. National icon. Soldier. No one knew that scrappy punk kid from Brooklyn anymore and as detached as the world was from his true self, he was just as detached from the world.

He hadn't tried to connect. Not really. He was observing. Trying to understand, but not to connect. He had a notebook full of things to experience that he had yet to even attempt and he wasn't sure he ever would.

The thing was in that moment he felt connected, he felt present, even if the song was an allusion to his past. The voice wasn't. The soft small hands stroking through his hair and down his back weren't. The song was old but the rift she put on it was new. The floral scent of the person beneath him was new.

" _Say nighty-night and kiss me_

 _Just hold me tight and tell me you'll miss me_

 _While I'm alone and blue as can be_

 _Dream a little dream of me."_

Steve finally lifted his head, his lips brushing against skin and his nose nuzzling a neck as he did so, causing the person beneath him to pause in singing and sigh breathily. Steve raised his head up completely and opened his eyes. He wasn't too surprised to find that the person he had curled himself around was Bonnie.

She smiled down at him not seeming at all bothered that his arms were still wrapped tightly around her or that his chin was resting between her breast, something that might've embarrassed him in another life, or still might've in this one, even if there was the barrier of clothing between them. For once Steve didn't feel like a blushing bumbling idiot, it felt natural to be there with their arms around each other squished together beneath a blanket that made him just a touch too warm on a couch that was barely enough to fit his stretched out frame.

"You've got a nice set of pipes," he told her, his voice low as to not break the moment.

Bonnie laughed and he felt the movement of it. He realized that one of her legs was around his hip in an effort to keep them both balanced on the couch. It was intimate in a way he hadn't let himself be with anyone in a very long time. Not since Bucky. He and Peggy had never made it that far.

"That's a funny way of putting it," Bonnie whispered with a grin.

Steve shrugged, shifting their bodies slightly. "The only way I ever put it before," he said, "But that was a different time. Why that song?"

Bonnie seemed to hesitate and Steve waited. He leaned up and placed a kiss on her collarbone in an effort to comfort her. It had always worked on Bucky during the war when he got lost in his own head on the hard days. But this woman wasn't someone he knew as well and it was strange that he felt comfortable with initiating the gesture. As she squirmed beneath him Steve found that the kiss had had a different effect on her, not calming, but rather caused her cheeks to flush and breathing to quicken. Steve found that the reaction was just as pleasant for him to witness, however, and so he did it again as he spoke. He was either being bold or going insane, either way he felt that Bucky would've been proud.

"I could tell you that my grandmother always kept music in the house," she said breathily, "Walls of records that she played all the time, which is true. But honestly, a…friend…someone I care about liked the song and I thought you might too. Given the time you left, you know?"

Steve nodded absently as he pressed his lips to her skin again. It was hard to stop once he had started. Her skin was soft and he liked feel of her touch. She hadn't pushed him away yet and so he supposed he was doing something right.

"I like the Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong version, myself," Bonnie continued as Steve trailed kisses up her neck, "You might not have heard it before. It came out just a little after your time."

"I'll have to add it to my list," Steve said as he reached her jaw and stopped. "Is this okay?" Steve could hear laughter and low chatter coming from the kitchen. Sam and Natasha. He liked all of what he was feeling, and experiencing. He wanted more of it. Of waking up to Bonnie. Of kisses on soft skin. More of listening to Natasha laugh at all of Sam's bad jokes as the smell of food wafted out of the kitchen.

When he had gone to see Peggy she'd said that the only thing that she had regretted about living her life was that he hadn't gotten a chance to live his. He felt alive in that moment. His regrets were many but the only one he felt as Bonnie ran her fingers through his hair was that Bucky wouldn't get to live his life. That he had gotten to survive his fall but Bucky hadn't.

"Is this okay?" Steve asked again, but this time he was asking something else. Was it okay for him to live on? Was it okay for him to make connections? Was it okay for him to start over?

Bonnie seemed to sense it and as she smiled and nodded. "It's alright, Steve," she whispered.

Steve kissed her then, on the lips, soft and slow. It was different than it had been to Natasha. There was no adrenaline rush or looking over his shoulder. This was peaceful and yet passionate. As Bonnie opened her mouth beneath him Steve's tongue met hers eagerly, one hand gripping the thigh hooked around his hip and the other tilting Bonnie's neck back until he was able to deepen the further.

Steve couldn't help but rock his hips forward and Bonnie whimpered before going stiff. Steven pulled back slowly, resting his forehead against hers. "It was too much," he whispered, "I'm sorry."

Bonnie shook her head and she ran her hands through his hair again. "No," she sighed, "It's me. I keep messing things up. Making things complicated. There's so much I want to tell you but I can't. Not yet. I just…and there's someone I…someone I love so much…and then there's this whole other thing with Nat. I don't want to hurt anyone. I know that you've had so many people you've lost but I look at you and I talk to you and I just feel like I know you and I want…" She trailed and looked away from him.

Steven grabbed her chin and gently turned her to face him. "What do you want Bonnie?"

Steve watched as Bonnie swallowed and waited. He wouldn't judge her. He knew what it was to love more than one person at once. To fall and then fall again without being able to stop it. He knew what it was to see someone and be dazed. He'd been dazed by Peggy's beauty. By her strength. By Bucky's smile. By his loyalty. The first being things he'd noticed head-on and the second being things that had formed over time. He'd love them both. He knew the signs.

He knew the signs and he recognized them all at once. Bonnie's beauty. Her softness. Her heroism. Her strength in the face of adversity. Natasha's smirk. Her humor. Her determination. Sam's smile. His genuineness. His willingness to do what was right. They were all mirrors of him in different ways. Just like Bucky had been. Just like Peggy had been. Steve had always been a punk, a fool. He was reckless. Fell hard and fast. He had been then and he would be now.

"What do you want Bonnie?" he repeated.

Bonnie opened her mouth to answer but stopped as someone cleared their throat. Steven turned toward the sound and sighed as Natasha stood in the doorway of the kitchen, watching them with one eyebrow raised. Natasha didn't look surprised or upset and so Steve didn't feel guilty.

"Dinner's ready," she said, her tone giving nothing of what she felt away.

Bonnie gently pushed Steve off of her and he allowed it. He untangled himself from the blanket on top of them and stood. Once he was standing her adjusted his clothes and reached out a hand to help Bonnie up. She took hand and as he pulled her up he deliberately used enough force to propel her into his body.

Steve smiled as she placed and hand on his chest to steady herself and said, "Whatever it is you're afraid to tell me, you'll get your chance. I'll hear you, whenever you're ready. I won't get upset, no matter what it is."

Bonnie made a scoffing noise and shook her head. "You can't promise that," she said, seriously.

Steve glanced at Natasha before bending down and gently kissing Bonnie's lips. "I can for you," he whispered as he pulled back.

Bonnie nodded once and then began to walk towards the kitchen. Natasha's hand reached out to stop her as she passed. Bonnie looked in her direction and they seemed to communicate something to one another before Natasha kissed Bonnie on the cheek and squeezed her hand. "Go eat," she said, "Sam's waiting."

Bonnie continued towards the kitchen and Steve braced himself as Natasha looked towards him, eyes narrowed.

"So you're just planning on kissing every person with shared life experience until something sticks?" She asked, one eyebrow raised.

Steve shrugged. "You're the one who said I needed practice."

Natasha laughed. "For a national treasure you're kind of an asshole," she muttered, crossing her arms over her chest.

"You're jealous," Steve said walking towards her until he stopped in front of her, "Which means for a manipulative spy, you're kind of human."

Natasha bit her lip and looked down. "The two of you are good for each other," she said, her tone sounded subdued, resigned.

Steve reached out and brushed a stray strand of hair behind her ear. "Yeah we are," he smiled, "We're good for you too Natasha."

Natasha gave him a sort of self-deprecating smile. "But I'm not good for anyone." She muttered.

"The verdict's still out on that," Steve said as he bent down and kissed her forehead. "You can't change the things you've done and I can't relive the past. We can't go back," Steve said, repeating Peggy's words, "All we can do is our best, and sometimes the best we can do is start over. When all of this ends and it will end, maybe we'll finally have the chance."

"So in this new world where we get to start over," Natasha said seriously, "And be honest. Let's say I'm someone that Bonnie can care about in that way…am I also someone you can trust."

"You are now," Steve answered, "And I'm always honest." He noted the surprised on her face and grinned wider. "Now let's go eat before the food gets cold."

"One more question, Mr. Honesty," Natasha pressed, "What was it like, kissing Bonnie?"

"Honest answer?" Steve asked, and Natasha nodded. "Honestly, a gentlemen never kisses and tells."

Natasha laughed. "Such an ass and a grandpa," she muttered. Steve couldn't help but laugh with her.

 **:::**

Bonnie couldn't sleep. She was sharing a bed with Natasha and the spy had said not much of anything since dinner but her silence had spoken volumes. Bonnie had wanted to talk about he things that they left silent but Natasha was closed off, in thought and she had fallen asleep before Bonnie could broach the topic.

Bonnie couldn't sleep in foreign places at the best of times and the thought of what was coming, made sleep even more out of reach that it normally would have been. She kept thinking about things she couldn't change and didn't know what to do anything about. Things like kissing Steve and hurting Natasha even though she hadn't meant to. Things like the secrets that she kept and what she would do when she saw James again.

Getting out of bed Bonnie left the guest room and walked through Sam's house until she reached the kitchen. She was the surprised to find that the light was already on. When she walked inside she came upon Sam standing at the counter, dressed in a t-shirt and boxers. He was putting on water to boil for tea.

"Couldn't sleep?" He asked, as Bonnie stood in the doorway.

Bonnie shook her head. "It's never really that easy for me," she frowned, "Sometimes I have night terrors. It's usually better when someone else is there but Nat's not that happy with me right now and I keep thinking about...stuff I shouldn't. You?"

Sam shrugged as she pulled down two mugs from the top cabinet. "Sometimes its nightmares but tonight," he paused, "It's kind of weird sharing my bed with someone. Since I got back if I get involved…its casual. No sleepovers. Haven't had anyone in my bed since Riley. It's different."

Bonnie walked over to sit down at the kitchen table. "In what way?" She asked, partially curious and partly because she needed a distraction.

"Just never thought I would have someone there that I could care about in that way again and Steve is," Sam sighed, "He's a good guy. But he's got his own baggage."

Bonnie smiled softly. She thought about it, but she couldn't find it in herself to be jealous in spite of the kiss she shared with Steve. She knew that there was history between Steve and Bucky and so she figured she had somewhere along the way gotten used to the idea she would have to share James. But now she felt like Steve was hers too in a weird kind of way, she supposed the idea of sharing him with someone else was something she would continue to have to be accustomed to.

"We all have baggage," Bonnie said.

"Yeah," Sam conceded, "But he's got Natasha and…you. And I talked a good game to Natasha but I don't know if there's any room for me in that and I don't know if there's any interest on his end to begin with."

"He's interested," Bonnie said, "He'd be crazy not to be." There's was something thick in the air between all of them that Bonnie couldn't quite name and she wasn't sure where it would lead. It was confusing and not something that she wanted to deal with. Too much was uncertain and too many people could get hurt.

"Are you?" Sam asked bluntly, eyeing her as he turned off the stove as the kettle whistled.

Bonnie crossed her arms over her chest. "You don't want to go down that road with me," Bonnie said seriously, "I'm causing enough trouble already."

Sam walked over to her, the tea forgotten as he knelt down in front of where Bonnie was sitting. "In case it wasn't obvious by being jumping to join you guys on this suicide mission you got going on tomorrow," he said, "I'll go down any road you want to take me. I don't know what it is…but there's something about you…all of you. I know no one has it figured out right now but whenever you do, if there's room for me I'm all in."

Bonnie felt it again, that pull that was thick in the air that she had felt with Steve. That same intoxicating energy that had made her kiss him. Bonnie thought that Sam might kissed her then, she saw in his eyes that he wanted to but instead of kissing her lips, he kissed her forehead. Bonnie wondered what that meant about her that she felt disappointed as he pulled away.

"Don't look like that," Sam grinned, "I'm just trying not to confuse you even more right now." He glanced behind him at the counter. "You want to tea or you want to try to sleep?"

Bonnie stood and stretched her arms over head and Sam stood with her. "I should probably sleep," she said.

"But you're still wary about Natasha," Sam guessed. He stared at her a moment and then, "I'm probably couching it anyway so if you'd feel better sleeping with Steve, then my bed is all yours. I'll handle Natasha if she gets up looking for you."

Bonnie thought about Steve. Steve who was good and kind and honest. Steve who was beautiful on the inside and out. Steve who wrapped himself around her in his sleep the same way that James did, who James had probably gotten the habit from in the first place. Her only reminder of James and the one person who would ever understand how much she missed him, even if she couldn't tell him the truth just yet. Steve who might hate her once he learned everything, whom she might not get another chance to share the same space with.

"I think I'll take you up on that," Bonnie said finally and Sam gave her a knowing smile. Bonnie stood on her toes and gave Sam a lingering kiss on the cheek. "Thanks Sam, for everything."

"Anytime," Sam nodded.

Bonnie told him goodnight and left him to his tea and his thoughts. She would have to make sure the others kept him close the next day. Sam didn't have any powers or serum to fall back on. He was capable but also more vulnerable than the rest of them.

Bonnie walked down the hall until she reached Sam's room. She opened the door and went inside, careful not to make too much noise as she shut it behind her.

Steve was in the middle of the bed, curled in on himself slightly. Bonnie smiled as she climbed in next to him. He seemed to sense her presence even before she grabbed one of his arms and wrapped it around her waist. He instinctively pulled her closer to him and his eyes opened slowly as she nestled into his side.

"Hi," she whispered.

"Hi," he smiled back, "Not that I'm not happy to see you but where's Sam?"

"He gave up his bed for me because I couldn't sleep and he felt weird sleeping in his bed with someone who wasn't Riley," Bonnie explained.

Steve frowned, his brows knitting together and Bonnie reached out to touch the side of his face. "I feel like I've just been causing him trouble since we met," Steve sighed, "You too."

Bonnie shook her head. "I was involved in this way before I met you and Sam wouldn't be involved if he didn't want to be," Bonnie replied.

"It's just," Steve said, "I know what its like to lose someone and Sam shouldn't have to share the space he shared with someone else if he doesn't want to."

"He wants to share it with us, though," Bonnie said, "It just takes some getting used to." Bonnie felt the weight of what she was implying and she could tell by Steve's expression even in the dark that he did as well. "But getting used to it, it's worth it though, right?"

Steve's smile grew as his hands found her hair and he leaned forward to kiss her gently on the lips. "Yeah," he said, as he pulled back, "It's worth it."

"Goodnight, Steve," Bonnie whispered.

"Goodnight, Bonnie."

As Bonnie closed her eyes she felt for the first time in a long time that she would sleep undisturbed. She wished in that moment that Steve could be there to quiet Bucky's nightmares the way that his presence would hers.

 **:::**

The next morning Bonnie got word from her source and they planned. Bonnie was able to steal Sam's wing pack without any problems, but when the time came to kidnap Jasper Sitwell she told them she had to meet up with her team. Steve hesitated only a moment before kissing her and she smiled as he pulls back. "Take care of each other," she told him and Nat, "Look after Sam."

She moved to leave and Nat stopped her with a hand on her arm. Steve watched as Nat pulled Bonnie into her and kissed her. Perhaps he should've been jealous. Though, he's still wasn't sure of who. All he thought in that moment as he watched their lips meet however, was, " _Finally_." Maybe he said it out loud.

When Natasha pulled away she didn't make some big declaration or even tell Bonnie how they all knew she felt. She just said, "Just in case we all die, you know?" and Bonnie laughed, shaking her head before teleporting away.

The look Natasha gave him was so smug that he wanted to kiss it off her face, but instead he brushed the thought away as they herded into Sam's car, because they had a mission to accomplish.

All it took was one drop from the roof of a skyscraper and Agent Sitwell talked. As he faell Natasha commented about what their sleeping arrangements would be when all of this is over. Some passing sarcastic remark about threesomes.

"I don't think I'm ready for that," Steve joked, all the while thinking about what it had been like to wake up with Bonnie in his arms, "Got a bad hip."

"Grandpa jokes," Natasha laughed, "I'm rubbing off on you in one way at least. Even if it's not the way I want."

Sitwell told them about Zola's algorithm, about how it could assess threats to HYDRA in the present and the future. How the plan was for the Insight helicarriers to scratch people off the list a few million at a time.

They just barely managed to get the information to Bonnie over the phone before they were intercepted by the Winter Soldier.

The fight on the bridge was a shit show from the beginning. By the time the steering wheel was ripped out of his hands, Steve's knew he had to get them out of the car. He managed it, just barely, but he lost Sam at the last minute and he thought of his promise to Bonnie as he watched Sam slip from his grip and roll down the asphalt.

Sam recovered quickly though and then there was no time for Steve to think about broken promises because he was getting blown off the bridge and into a fucking bus. Shit show.

The Soldier was flanked by gunmen and Steve knew that no matter how much ammo they had with them it'd never be enough to fight them all off. But they fight. The Soldier came for Nat first and Sam seemed to be the only one who didn't actually need that much looking after, disarming a man of a gun the size of his thigh with a knife the size of his hand before kicking him off the bridge, as Steve was trapped inside of an overturned bus getting shot at. Fucking shit show.

When he broke out of the bus Steve only had his shield for cover and then Sam was there, looking out for him and clearing the way for him to go after Nat.

Nat laid a trap and was able to hold her own for a while, but got hit in spite of it. Shot to the shoulder. Then it was the Soldier and Steve. Steve wanted to say they were evenly matched but there were enough narrow misses and he loses his shield enough times to know, he was on borrowed time. Complete and utter shit show.

Then Bonnie appeared like some avenging angel out of thin air, masked and suited up and Steve could have kissed her right there but she was already going for the attack and the Soldier descended on his new target.

However, as Steve watched them fight, something seemed off. The Soldier's movements were all defensive when it came to Bonnie. No matter how hard she hit or how many blows she landed, he didn't fight back. It was like he was watching someone spar instead of fight. All the single-minded aggression the Soldier had for him seemed to have disappeared.

Steve didn't know what to make of it but used the moment of distraction to attack the Soldier from behind. Steve landed his own blows with his shield and fist before he flipped the Soldier over his shoulder by the mask. The mask flew off and the Soldier recovered. Unending shit show.

"Bucky?" Steve said as the Soldier turned to face him.

But it wasn't a question, not really. As the man walked towards him unfazed, eyes glazed and detached, Steve _knows_. Knows that this mad was Bucky. There was shock and horror and fucking relief down to his toes because Bucky was alive. But this, this wasn't Bucky. Not the Bucky he remembered. Not the Bucky he'd loved.

"Who the hell is Bucky?"

Before Bucky could attack him again Sam came flying out of the sky and kicked him in the head. Steve stood there shocked and useless as Bucky, the Soldier, recovered again. Natasha sent a shot through the air that narrowly missed Bucky. Bucky kept moving, picked up a gun off the ground and lifted it, pointing it straight at Steve.

Steve stood open mouthed unable to react as Bucky moved to pull the trigger, until… "James," Bonnie's voice, "Please."

Bucky froze. No, the Soldier froze. His eyes that were cold, so cold when they'd looked at Steve, softened as he looked at Bonnie. His hand trembled. He hesitated.

"You _know_ him," Bonnie said, gesturing towards Steve. "You can't do this."

"I have orders," Bucky said, his tone empty and somehow full of emotion all at one. "I made a promise. If I follow orders I can come home. I can come back to you."

Steve felt like he'd been hit in the face with a brick as things began to come together all at once. Bonnie had been a HYDRA captive. Natasha had said that she'd had someone special, someone she loved. Bonnie had secrets, specific secrets she wanted to tell Steve. It was Bucky, it'd been about Bucky the entire time.

Steve watched as Bonnie walked around him and right up to Bucky. She was calm. So calm. As if he hadn't just tried to kill them all. She didn't hesitate as she cupped his face with one and took the gun in his with the other.

"You made a promise to me too," Bonnie said, "That you wouldn't hurt the people I care about. I care about them." She looked back at Steve. "We care about him."

Steve watched as Bucky's face crumbled and he wrapped his arms around Bonnie's waist. Then the armored cars came and they were surrounded. Bucky pushed Bonnie away gently and then. "You have to go," he demanded, "they'll take you again. They know how to push your buttons. They know you're weakness."

Bonnie shook her head. "I can't leave them," she said, "I can't leave you again. I'll deal with the consequences."

Steve snapped out of his daze at the thought of Bonnie subjecting herself to further captivity and possibly torture for them. "He's right," he said, "You have to leave. We'll be fine. You have to finish what we started and stop Insight."

"I'll get them out," Bucky said, "I'll find a way. You care about them so I'll find a way. Like I did for Nosferatu."

Steve frowned, wondering what the hell he was talking about, what the hell was going on period really. But Bonnie smiled and but shook her head. "They'll wipe you again," she argue, "You might not remember."

Steve watched as Bucky leaned down and kissed her. Kissed her long. Hard. Desperate. "They take a lot from me," he said as he pulled away, "But they can never touch the spring."

Steve remembered meeting Bonnie and he felt his heartbreak as he made another connection. The spring. HYDRA had given her a codename. Persephone. Bucky didn't remember Steve, that much was clear, but he remembered the spring.

" _Go_ ," Bucky repeated and then, "I love you."

"I love you." Finally Bonnie gave a stiff nod before turning away from him.

Bonnie turned to Steve and gave him a sad smile before whispering, "I'm sorry." Steve knew, as she vanished into thin air; that she wasn't apologizing for leaving them behind in that moment. Steve was sorry too, sorry that he had fallen for the same woman the man he'd loved was in love with.

 **:::**

Hill listened from behind a cramp helmet as Steve spoke about Barnes. Listened as Natasha said wasn't Steve's fault. Listened as who Bonnie had identified as Sam Wilson demanded they get Natasha medical attention. By the time she revealed herself and they escaped the vehicle, Hill knew that Salvatore had been right, things would only get more complicated.

The others were quiet and stoic as Hill introduced them to Salvatore and Munroe. None of them spoke until they reached Fury. Hill noted that they looked less surprised to see him alive than they should have been.

"Another secret that Bonnie was keeping," Steve said and Hill sighed.

"Bennett saved his life," Hill said, "And I'm sure Romanoff alluded to that. Any attempt at the director's life had to look successful. Some secrets have reasons Steve."

"She tried to tell me about Barnes when she was rescued," Fury said, "I didn't listen. I'm sorry for that."

"If you had believe her," Steve said, "Would you have told me?"

Fury doesn't answer and Hill sighs as she tends brushes Sam aside as he tries to tend to Natasha's wound. "Bennett has it covered," Hill said, "She'll be here soon."

She went over to Rogers and took him aside with a murmured, "There's something that you need to see."

Steve followed her reluctantly. "Whatever it is I'm sure it can wait," he said.

"It probably could but you're out of it and your heads a mess," Hill said, "We need you in the game Rogers and I think that I have something that may help." She led him into an empty room with her laptop in it. "Barnes gave us some intel on Bonnie and Salvatore. Himself too. We have all his files. You're welcome to take a look. There's video footage as well. I've watched everything except for one. It was a message. For you."

Hill left the room as Steve sat down in front of the computer. She waited outside of the door until she couldn't give Roger's anymore time.

As she walked back into the room, she heard Barnes' voice at the tale end of the recording. "I know you're probably blubbering like an idiot by now but don't feel bad for me, you punk," Barnes said, "It hasn't been all bad. I got me a girl. You're probably wondering how I could find one in here but we both know I've always been the charmer." Rogers laughed at the screen as Barnes continued. "Her name's Bonnie. She's beautiful Steve. Sings like an angel. She can perform miracles like one too. Bring dead things back to life. I guess it's kind of fitting, huh, considering? She makes it bearable. She loves me, Stevie. The same way you did. That unconditional kind. No matter what they make me do she always has a smile for me when I see her. You'll love her. She's brave and kind and good. She could kick your ass too. You'd probably fall for her right off. I told her about you and she said…she'd be okay with us making a home together. The three of us. When the war is over."

Hill felt like she was intruding but she couldn't look away.

"I told her to look after you," Barnes said, "Make sure you didn't do anything stupid. The thing is Stevie, she needs looking after too. She thinks about everybody but herself. That's how they get to her. Torture other people to keep her in line." Barnes face became blank as he spoke as if there were things he was trying to shut out. "I brought her here and of all the horrible things they got me doing, that's one of my biggest regrets. Taking her. Even if it worked out for me in the end. She's done so much for me Stevie. She's been the only good thing. The only one. She's been protecting my mind. So if I don't know you when I see you, I will. You got to trust that and you got to look after her. You take care of our girl until I come home. And I _will_ come home, Stevie. Remember, I'm with you till the end of the line."

The video went dead and Hill let her presence be known. Rogers stood and Hill pretended not to notice as he wiped the tears from his cheeks.

They didn't speak as they returned to the others. Bonnie was there when they got back. She'd healed Natasha and was standing behind Fury's chair refusing to make eye contact with anyone in particular. Tension was thick in the air as they all discussed things and finally agreed that when HYDRA fell, S.H.I.E.L.D would have to go with it.

Bonnie placed a comforting hand on Fury's shoulder and as he grabbed it and laced their fingers together Hill noticed that Rogers wasn't the only one to take note. From the varying expressions on their face Hill could imagine what Rogers, Wilson and Romanoff were thinking. She shook her head as Bonnie leaned down and kissed Fury's cheek. It was clear they were jealous as they didn't yet know Bonnie's relationship to Fury yet.

"You want to tell them, Director or should I?" Hill asked.

"What else could you possibly be hiding?" Natasha said and she sounded tired.

Rogers hadn't taken his eyes off Bonnie and Hill knew that the reaction would be comical even if it wasn't intentional.

"You all know that Bonnie is a former HYDRA captive and inhuman," Fury stated, squeezing Bonnie's hand, "What you don't know is that she's also my daughter."

The shock that followed did not disappoint. As the Rogers, Wilson and Romanoff all looked from Fury to Bonnie and back again, Hill wondered which one of them Director Fury would murder first once he figured out that they were all interested in his daughter and that Rogers in particular was likely falling in love with her already. Hill had to say, given the odds her money was actually on Barnes being the first to go.

 **:::**

The Soldier was remembering. Flashes of things. Falling. Snow. Cold. A lab table. A face. The man on the bridge. Persephone had been right. He knew him.

When the Soldier is approached by Alexander Pierce for a mission report he doesn't answer. He doesn't answer when Pierce slaps him across the fast. The sting of it doesn't take away the softness he remembers. The softness of his girl's lips. Of the man's eyes.

When he asked Pierce about the man on the bridge, he knew what would follow. Even before he reiterated the words, "I knew him."

When Pierce tells the handlers to wipe him, the Soldier's expression is resigned. His girl had told him that they would. He think about her as they strap him down and shove the mouth guard between his lips.

He thought about her lips on his. He thought about her saying, "I love you." He thought about the man. His blue gaze full of pain. He thought about him saying the name, "Bucky". The Soldier closed his eyes to the pain as they activated the machine and he knew that no matter what they did, they could take a lot of things from him, but they would never take the spring.

 **:::**

Bonnie finds Steve in time to hear Sam tell him that Bucky is the kind that you stop and not the kind you save. She could understand Sam's perspective even if she didn't agree with it.

When Sam saw her, he smiled and Bonnie couldn't help but hug him when he reached out to her. Her secrets had come to light and still Sam had a smile for her. Natasha had become more guarded and Bonnie knew she would need space before Bonnie could try talking to her. Knowing that Bonnie loved James was one thing but now that Natasha had seen them together, now that Natasha knew that Bonnie was Nick Fury's daughter….things were tense between them. Steve was the only one that Bonnie wasn't sure where she stood with.

Sam looked in between the two of them as Bonnie pulled away and gave her shoulder a squeeze. "I got to get suited up," he said, "I'll leave you two alone."

Bonnie watched Sam walk away and when she turned back it was to find Steve's blue gaze boring into her. She dropped the duffle bag in her hand on the ground and sighed. "I know we don't really have time to hash all this out and I completely understand if you hate me. I lied to you."

"You had your reasons. I don't hate you, Bonnie," Steve shook his head, "I can't. Not when you took care of him when I couldn't, even if it was a short time. He left me a message in the Intel he got to you. It was one of the good days I guess because he remembered me. He said that you were the only good thing he had in all this time. The only one. And even without all that you saved my life and you've been…I can't even put it all into words but I don't hate you Bonnie."

"Good," Bonnie said, "I don't think I could handle it if you did."

Bonnie had no idea that James had left Steve a message but it gave her hope. "I have to know one thing," Steve said, "He said some things and I need to know…did you kiss me because you thought that was what he would want?"

This time Bonnie shook her head. "He talked about it," Bonnie revealed, "On the good days sometimes. I agreed to it. Sharing him with you. I knew it would be complicated though. At the time I couldn't see it ever working out that way. I love him. I'd do anything for him but I couldn't…see myself with you. I just knew he'd be with you and I'd be with him and he'd be happy. I was jealous of you for a long time. When I got out, I researched you. I wanted to understand his feelings and I started to. Then I met you and I got it. As much as I couldn't see it before, I can't see me not wanting to be with you now. It would be really hard not to fall for you Steve. I feel like after someone meets you, it kind of comes with the territory."

"He said I'd fall for you right off," Steve laughed, "As soon as I found out you could kick my ass. But…he was wrong…" Bonnie swallowed and prepared for a rejection that never came, "It was before that. Before I knew who you were or how you were involved in all of this. When I saw you on the escalator at the mall in that green dress. That's when it started. Everything that happened after that just made things fall into place."

As Steve kissed her Bonnie might have cried if she wasn't so happy in that moment. She felt like they would be alright and she finally had someone that was on her side where James was concerned, that believed that Bucky could be saved.

"We're going to bring him home?" Bonnie asked, needing to hear it.

"We're going to bring him home," Steve vowed as he kissed her again, "And in the meantime, I'm going to keep my promise to him and take care of _our_ girl."

"'Our girl', huh?" Bonnie grinned, "I think that I can live with that."

Bonnie beamed up at him until Steve frowned. "Your father is going to kill me isn't he?"

Bonnie snorted. "Probably," she conceded, "I can always bring you back though."

Steve looked down at the bag at Bonnie's feet as she pulled away from him slowly. "What's in the bag?"

Smiling Bonnie bent down to open it. "The reason I wasn't here when Hill brought you guys back," she said, as she unzipped the back, "I had to pick something up from the Smithsonian."

Bonnie pulled out Steve's uniform and held it up to his chest.

 _ **End Notes: And so continues the Marvel harem fic. Not sure when the next update is coming but please let me know what you guys think!**_


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